Shadow Balance
by Lethotep
Summary: Ryou returns to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While there, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world. YGOHP, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU. *This story is now slightly undead, rather than on hiatus*
1. Chapter 1: DJED

Title: Shadow Balance

Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past. 

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world.

Disclaimer: See profile if needed.

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CHAPTER ONE: DJED – STABILITY

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This is a story that begins with goodbyes.

The gang was together for what could be the last time. All of them together in Egypt. The Ceremonial Duel between Yugi and Atem had been only weeks before, and since then they had spent the time sightseeing around Luxor. Marik and Rishid had been showing them around. Occasionally Isis would join them, but usually she was working.

Jou had been pick-pocketed twice since they'd arrived, much to his annoyance. Although to the surprise of everyone, it turned out Ryou had been the one who'd done it the second time.

"Look Jou, I'm sorry!" Ryou pleaded, at his angry friend, "You just made it too easy – I mean, it was just sticking out your pocket in plain sight!"

Ryou felt so confused. Ever since the Items had been destroyed he'd felt subsequently different. The others had noticed too. They didn't say anything, but he could tell what they thought.

They thought the spirit was back in him again.

That was silly though. The spirit was gone, along with the Pharaoh. He was just… becoming more like him. It was the same with Yugi, but since him and the Pharaoh had been so similar by the end of things – at least in comparison to the spirit and Ryou, it was difficult to tell.

"Bakura! You shouldn't have taken it anyway!" Anzu scolded, "Jounouchi had his wallet stolen once before, he's just lucky Marik managed to grab the guy the first time. You shouldn't have made him panic like that!"

Ryou blushed and looked down. He _had_ let Jou get rather frantic before revealing he had the wallet. He was about to apologize when Marik cut in.

"Jounouchi should have been more careful." He stated rather mildly, "He's lucky it was only Bakura, or he might have lost his passport. Jou should keep a better eye on his things, and I only hope this will have taught him a lesson – since it's obvious the first time wasn't warning enough."

Jou looked abashed at this, and shot Bakura an apologetic look.

Ryou looked at Marik in surprise, not having expecting to find any assistance.

"Marik has a point." It was Yugi. He was standing regally, in a stance reminiscent of the Pharaoh, but his violet eyes were soft and his features kind.

"Jou was being careless, and Bakura did give it back," Yugi sighed, "So let's please forget about this. We only have today left altogether, let's not spoil it."

It was true. They'd come to Egypt at the end of the school year, after graduation.

Tomorrow Anzu would be flying straight to New York. She'd gotten a full scholarship to a dance school there.

Yugi would be staying in Egypt for another month. Isis had asked him to stay with the Tomb Keepers clan for a while before he went to university to study Egyptology.

Ryou found it strange that Yugi was going to study Egyptology, he probably knew more than most professors, at least on certain topics. But he assumed it was a formality to some extent.

Jou was trying to join the Domino Police Academy, and was going to start training when he got back in a few weeks. That's probably what made him so upset about being the one to get pick-pocketed twice, since that was a job where he'd have to keep his wits about him.

It was strange thinking of Jou as a cop. He'd been in a gang when he was younger, but at the same time he was trustworthy and honest. He was probably trying to be a better roll model for his sister, or trying to impress Mai. Maybe even both.

Honda was also going to university. He was going to study Political Science at Domino University. He'd surprised everyone by saying he wanted run for local office eventually.(1)

Otogi was taking over full ownership of the Black Crown game store his father had started now that he'd graduated, and was planning a nationwide chain of stores in conjunction with KaibaCorp.

Seto and Mokuba, of course had KaibaCorp to get back to. Kaiba had mellowed out considerably since the day he showed up, right after the Ceremonial Duel. But he was still Kaiba, speaking of which…

"OH!" Ryou yelped, "Kaiba and Mokuba are still waiting for us!"

Yugi's eyes widened in horror, "We were supposed to meet them at the restaurant ten minutes ago!" He squeaked, looking every inch like innocent Yugi.

"Aw man! Rich boy's gonna kill us!" Jou yelled as the gang took off running down the street.

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"So Bakura," Yugi asked quietly, "You really aren't going back to Japan?"

Ryou looked up from his packing. They were back at the hotel. Anzu's flight was at seven AM, and his was only an hour later. The Kaiba brothers had left on their jet earlier that evening with Otogi for business reasons. Honda and Jou were only catching a flight to Japan next week.

He sighed, and looked at Yugi standing in the door frame.

"It's true." He said quietly.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to England, my dad owns a house in a small town called Godric's Hollow."(2)

"Why?"

Ryou sighed. He didn't really know why he was returning there. His father still owned property there it was true, so at least he would have somewhere to stay. How long he'd actually stay there, he didn't know.

There were so many memories back there.

So many different towns.

That had been when the spirit was still hiding in him. He hadn't known about it at the time, but now…

Yes.

He knew why he had to go back there. He needed closure. He needed to make sure all those people were really okay.

He didn't want to tell Yugi this. Not yet.

"My father wants me to come visit him." This was a really bad lie. Ryou's father was in fact right here in Egypt at the moment on a dig with people from his museum. He hoped Yugi wouldn't see through it though.

"Isn't your father here though?" Yugi asked, confused.

Damn.

"Oh, yes." Ryou said, thinking quickly, "He's working here a bit longer than he intended to, one of the men he works with – Bill, he left unexpectedly to get married and father has to stay for a while to help cover the work load. He didn't want me to have to wait around, so I'll be waiting for him at his house."

Ryou was impressed with himself. He'd managed to tell that lie by simply telling the truth. He was glad he'd paid attention to the call he'd gotten from his father before Ryou had left for Egypt.

Father had been in Egypt during the Dark RPG the spirit had played in the back room of father's museum in Domino a month ago. Ryou was glad for that. It had taken him days to straighten out the mess and repair the damage, but one evening, the day before Ryou was set to leave for Egypt with his friends, father had called.

Ryou had been surprised to hear from him. Father spent most of his time travelling, but when he wasn't, he either stayed at their old house in England or in his makeshift room at the museum. Ryou's own apartment was a small one bed roomed place where he'd been living alone for the past few years.

His father has told him that he wouldn't be able to come back to Japan for six months, due to, - as Ryou had just told Yugi - one of the men he worked with leaving sporadically over the last few months, just to return unexpectedly with his face scarred to announce he was leaving to get married!

Father had been quite upset, and had told Ryou how unprofessional Bill Weasley had been at great lengths. It was strange, since Ryou's father had said previously he quite liked the man.

He was probably just upset Bill hadn't invited him to the wedding, Ryou thought. Especially since father wasn't really the type to care about spending more time away from his son than he already had.

The information had been rather dull at the time, Ryou had only met Bill a few times when he was much younger, so he wasn't very interested in the man's business, but it had come in useful now.

During the conversation, Ryou never once mentioned to his father that he would be in Egypt within the next few days. He didn't want to bother him.

"Oh." Yugi said quietly, "Um, Ryou?"

Ryou jerked in surprise, no one ever called him by his first name.

"Y-yeah Yugi?" He asked quietly.

"Have you noticed the Shadows lately?" Yugi asked in an offhanded sort of way.

Ryou started in shock, and blurted out, "Ever since the Duel?"

Yugi nodded, "Yeah, it's strange. It's like Ya – Atem is still with me. It feels like I still have the puzzle's magic."

Ryou nodded in return, "I know, I thought our magic was because of them_, _but…" Ryou waved his hand, causing the shadows to move in and obscure him from view, making him invisible in plain sight.

"I can do things only… he could do. And the shadows don't hurt like they used to." Ryou faded back into sight.

"Yeah," Yugi said, "I've been talking to Isis about it. She has an idea about what might be happening. It's strange; she said Marik and her have also had some shadow powers return since the Items were destroyed."

Ryou looked at Yugi in amazement; Marik hadn't mentioned anything to him. The two of them were pretty good friends, they both understood what it was like being only half in the real friendship while still being crept around as if they might become evil at any given moment.

"Isis thinks that it has something to do with us having found the Pharaoh's name."

"Of course!" Ryou said, "The Pharaoh's name was used to seal the Shadow magic away, now that the Seal is gone…"

"Those who would have been able to wield the items will have the shadows return to them." Yugi finished.

Ryou frowned, "Isn't that dangerous? Having people out there who could be using the Shadows?"

"I asked Isis about that," Yugi nodded, "She said that only those with a link to the ancient past would be able use the shadows after it being sealed so long. The Shadows have become choosy over time it seems. If anyone else tries, they'll be consumed by the Shadows."

Ryou looked relieved. He didn't want to see people summoning Ka's all over the place.

"She also mentioned something else," he said, "About me and you."

Ryou motioned for him to continue.

"It seems because we're reincarnations of _existing_ spirits, now that the spirits have passed on, our souls have… kind of merged with our past selves."

Ryou laughed, "That explains a lot."

He was relieved to have an explanation at last. He'd been having strange memories pop into his head recently, from periods of his life when the spirit had been in control of his body, and even some from the Tomb Robber's time in Kemet. They were mostly of more resent years though, and none were really complete.

"The others have noticed something's off with us." Yugi agreed, "Um… I was also wondering about that."

Ryou looked at him.

"Well, the Tomb Robber had a very _strong_ personality. I'm worried it might overwhelm you, and you won't be you anymore." Yugi said, his eyes showing his concern.

Ryou shook his head, "No, I don't think so. I think maybe whoever I become, whoever _we_ become now will be the person maybe we were meant to be, if our past selves hadn't gotten themselves sealed maybe we would have been like Isis – a full reincarnation.

Our spirits, our Yami's – our Darks, they were a part of ourselves we were missing. We were light without dark; one without the other can't truly exist. I think… maybe now we're finally _balanced_." As he voiced this out loud, Ryou felt at least some truth in it.

Yugi nodded, "You have a point." He said thoughtfully, "But keep an eye on yourself anyway, please."

"I will." Ryou said. "So, how many people are there who can use the Shadows? That we know of, I mean." Ryou asked, changing the subject.

"Well, according to Isis, it would be me, you, Marik, Isis herself, a few other people in the Tomb Keeper's clan, my grandpa – apparently he's the reincarnation of the vizier Siamun Muran. Oh, and Kaiba.

Ryou gave a very Tomb Robber like smirk and said, "Kaiba with magic? I don't see him taking to that very well."

Yugi grinned, "Yeah, Isis said to break it gently to him. I'll probably mention it when I see him in Domino next month."

"Good luck with that," Ryou giggled, "I hate to miss that, but…" he sighed. The conversation had gone a full circle and they were back at this again.

"Ryou?" Yugi asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"After you've… visited your father, are you going to come back to Domino? What are you going to do anyway? I mean, you haven't told anyone what your plans for the future are, or even how long you'll be gone."

Ryou was taken aback, "I-I don't know. I'll probably talk to father about helping out at his museum I guess. So yes, I suppose I'll come back to Domino eventually. I don't know when though."

Yugi smiled in relief, "Oh, good! I'm glad."

Ryou looked at the clock, "Oh! It's almost two AM! I've got to finish packing for tomorrow morning!" he yelped.

Yugi also glanced at the clock in shock, "What? I'd better go help Anzu!" he said blushing as he sped out the door.

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*Edited 17/02/2010

(1) Small reference to the Yu-gi-oh abridged movie, which states Tristan/Honda as becoming U.S president.

(2) Godric's Hollow is described as a Muggle village that is host to several wizarding families.


	2. Chapter 2:KHAST: KHEPI

Title: Shadow Balance

Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past. 

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world. 

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CHAPTER TWO: KHAST: KHEPI – FOREIGN LAND: ENCOUNTER

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It was late evening when Ryou's plane landed in London. The trip there had been eventful, and the goodbyes from Luxor had been tearful.

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_After they'd seen Anzu's flight off, the guys and Isis had gone to a small airport café for a cup of tea while they waited for Ryou's boarding call. _

_Yugi's eyes were still red from saying goodbye to Anzu and the gang had an overall air of sadness._

"_We'll miss you Bakura." Honda said._

"_I won't be gone forever guys, you may even see me before you see Anzu again." Ryou laughed softly._

_That probably wasn't true. Anzu would be back in Domino in four months for a few weeks off before she returned to New York and Ryou doubted he'd be returning that soon, if at all. He had a lot to do._

"_Well, if you're in town give us a ring." Jou said loudly, the wallet incident long forgotten._

"_I will."_

"_And don't forget, we're here if you need us." Yugi said._

"_I know. Thanks guys."_

_._

Ryou stepped out the airport, dragging his trunk with him and carrying a small backpack over his shoulder. He'd forgone using a trolley to move his things, since he had an idea he wanted to try.

Ever since the conversation with Yugi, Ryou had been trying to focus more on the Shadows. Unfortunately, being on an airplane isn't the best position to try magic in.

The whole ride he'd resisted the temptation to test what he could do with the Shadows, worrying mainly about two things; the close proximity of so many people, and the fact that he didn't know that would happen if he tried Shadow magic on a plane.

The first half of the flight he'd wondered if using them would send the plane plummeting into the ground or into the Shadow Realm if it got out of control, and which would be worse.

A plane wasn't like a blimp, back in Battle City. Plus, on the blimp they'd been on the outside, it wasn't so contained.

He'd decided to focus on something else. Mainly, several… skills he'd developed along with the Shadow powers.

He'd later heard several passengers complaining to the stewardess that some small valuable items of theirs had gone missing.

He would have made shadow replicas, illusions that would have lasted until he was long gone, but he wasn't going to risk using the shadows on the plane just yet.

Once the plane had landed however, Ryou had quickly made a small hole in the shadows next to him in which he shoved the passengers' valuables in case he got searched on the way out.

He didn't know if he'd be able to get the things back though, which was what he was planning on testing…

Dragging his trunk to the large airport car park, which was disserted and mainly unlit, he kicked his trunk open and began sorting through things.

He removed anything useful, including a spare change of clothes and his long black trench coat.

It had been the spirits, but Ryou found he quite liked it. The cold English weather was also a factor in taking it of course, especially after just arriving from the heat of Egypt.

He also found the dagger Marik had given him last week.

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"_Hey Bakura!" Marik yelled._

_Ryou turned around. "Oh, hello Marik."_

"_I've got a goodbye gift for you."_

"_You didn't have to-"_

"_Na, it's cool. It's just, remember back at Battle City?" he asked, looking pointedly at Ryou's arm._

_Ryou shook his head, "Not really. The spirit didn't really let me in on things, although recently I can _almost_ recall parts of my life while he was in control, but only flashes."_

_Marik looked embarrassed at that, "Um, yeah. Well, do you know when I and he made the deal and…"  
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"_He stabbed me, yeah." Ryou nodded. _

"_Yeah, and then chucked his knife into the ocean. Well, I guess…" He pulled out a small package out of his pocket._

"_It's probably not the most, tactful gift I guess," He said, as if just realizing this, "But I wanted to replace it."_

_Ryou unwrapped the knife. It was small and curved, in a leather sheath. He slipped it out and twirled it. It was well balanced. It really was a _very_ untactful gift, but it was a beautiful knife, and Ryou liked it. He was happy._

"_Thanks Marik." _

_._

Ryou clipped the knife onto his belt. He was going to be walking around London at night after all.

After he'd taken everything he needed from his trunk he closed it and sat on it.

Focusing in front of him he tried to recall the things he'd sent to the Shadow Realm.

A small hole opened in the Shadows, Ryou focused, telling the Shadows to send the items back through.

Suddenly, with force, wallets, rings and jewellery shot out the hole, hitting him square in the forehead and knocking him over his trunk.

"Ow…" Ryou groaned, sitting up.

"Well, at least it worked." He muttered to himself, "Should probably have been more polite to them I guess." The Shadows could be temperamental he'd found.

Getting up, he stowed the things in his pockets, emptying wallets of money, he stowed the money before banishing the empty wallets.

No need leaving traceable evidence around.

Looking around, making sure the area was clear; he summoned the shadows around his trunk and let it sink into the Shadows.

Now that he knew he could get his trunk back, there was no point lugging it around when the Shadow Monsters could guard it.

Stretching, Ryou pulled the backpack on and started walking towards the city.

Ryou looked around. He'd been walking for about an hour and was completely lost.

He looked at street sign on the corner he was on.

Tottenham Court Road.

There were quite a few people on the street, most outside a pub just up the road. Walking up the road slowly, he heard a loud catcall, "Hey girly! Why don't you join us over here?"

Ryou scowled angrily at the drunken men on the opposite side of the road. He hated being mistaken for a girl. He wasn't that feminine!

Ryou noticed a small café. It was open. Gratefully, he turned into it away from the street and the men across the road, hoping to sit for a bit and get his bearings sorted.

It was a dusty place, with only a waitress on duty. Ryou made his way to a booth in the corner. The waitress walked over, chewing gum loudly she took his order.

She returned with his cup of black coffee and a rather stale Chelsea bun. Ryou thanked her and sat quietly, adding sachets of sugar to the coffee.

Sipping slowly, Ryou heard the drunken man yelling again outside, to the laughter of his friends. Ryou scowled and pulled the Shadows around him in his booth instinctively in an attempt to distance himself from the sound.

Just then, the door of the café opened. Ryou looked up warily, but saw only two teens about his age, a boy and a girl. They looked harassed and were acting as if they'd just escaped a war. Ryou thought that was a bit of an overreaction to some drunken idiots, and couldn't help watched them quietly from his corner in curiosity.

They made their way to the booth next to his, oblivious to his shadowed presence.

Ryou watched in interest as the red-headed boy paused weirdly before sitting, it almost looked as if he was waiting for someone else to sit first, but the girl was the only person with him, and she was moving to sit on the other side of the booth.

Once the two were sitting, Ryou noticed the girl kept looking over her shoulder, as if expecting an attack at any moment from any direction.

Not being able to resist his intrigued, Ryou shifted around his booth, until he was as close to the two as he could get without giving himself away.

Ryou's breath hitched in his throat.

He felt something strange coming off these people. It felt almost like Shadow magic, only lighter and weaker. A light magic?

Ryou bit his lip, this was worrying. What if more people were affected by the Seal's release than Isis thought?

What if these teens were being affected by its release? Spreading magic where it wasn't supposed to be?

"You know, we're not far from the Leaky Cauldron here, it's only in Charing Cross –" (1) One of the two whispered softly.

Ryou leaned in, hoping to learn more. The Leaky Cauldron? That sounded out of place, he'd never heard of anywhere with a name like that. But he hadn't been to London in years, so he couldn't discount it – no matter how odd it sounded.

"Ron, we can't!" the girl said.

"Not to stay there, but to find out what's going on!" The boy, Ron added on hastily.

Stay there? Was it a hotel? Or maybe an inn with a name like that. They were trying to find out something, something that must have taken place quite recent. Was it the Shadows they were talking about? Maybe the magic around them had been causing problems?

"We already know what's going on! Voldemort's taken over the ministry, what else do we need to know?" This was said in a high strained tone that carried easily to where he was sitting.

Ryou felt a strange surge of magic echo out when she said that strange name. It felt almost like summoning magic, but nothing like Shadow summoning. It felt… strange, in what could _not_ be called a pleasant way under any circumstances.

He had no idea who or what they were talking about now. Surely he would have heard if there was political strife or problems with the British government?

That sort of thing wouldn't stay quiet, and he was sure he would have heard something.

"Okay, Okay, it was just an idea." Ron mumbled, running his hand through his hair distractedly.

The two were quiet again, and soon the waitress came over to take their orders. They ordered two cappuccinos and sat in silence.

Ryou was still trying to decipher the conversation. Did they know they had magic? If so, how was it possible? All magic had been sealed until last month, hadn't it?

He'd go to that place they mentioned and scout it out, Ryou decided, the Leaky Cauldron on Charing Cross. He knew he shouldn't be prying into other people's lives like that, but a feeling deep inside him was stirring. Telling him take the risk, he was in a place where no one knew him; he should take advantage of that and explore, find things out. Maybe even do some good...

They said the Leaky Cauldron was good for getting information. That would be a good place to start.

He nibbled on his Chelsea bun.

Suddenly, two more people entered the café.

They looked like day labourers, large and bulky. They squeezed into the booth on the other side of the two teens and sat in silence. Ryou glanced around in suspicion. There was that strange magic on _them_ too. What on earth was going on?

The girl had started talking again, whispering again due to the appearance two workmen. Ryou leaned in to listen, catching only half of what she said.

"…Disapparate and head for the countryside. Once we're there, we could send a message to the Order."

"Can you do that talking Patronus thing, then?" the boy – Ron, said.

"I've been practicing, and I think so." The girl said nervously.

"Well, as long as it doesn't get them into trouble, though they might've been arrested already." He said dejectedly, picking up his warm cup, "God that's revolting!" he said, making a face while sipping his cappuccino.

The waitress shot him a dirty look from where she was, stalking across the room towards the new arrivals before asking the two men what they wanted. They shook her away, and she huffed off.

The two teens were getting restless, and after only a minute, Ron spoke up,"Let's get going then; I don't want to drink this muck. Hermione, have you got Muggle money to pay for this?"

Muggle money? Ryou mussed in puzzlement.

The girl replied in affirmative and reached for a small beaded bag at her side.

Suddenly, the two men moved identically, pulling something from their pockets and diving towards the teens.

Ron yelled as he lunged across the table and pulled the girl – Hermione, sideways onto the floor.

Ryou yelped in shock as the wall above him exploded. Any sound he made went entirely unnoticed as the waitress shrieked and ducked down next to a table. Ryou moved backwards deeper into the booth and pulled the shadows around him close as he watched the struggle unfold.

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*Edited 17/02/10

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(1)Conversation is from the Deathly Hallows.


	3. Chapter 3: BINU

Title: Shadow Balance

Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past. 

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world. 

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CHAPTER THREE: BINU – ENEMIES

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Ryou watched in amazement as coloured light flew across the room when suddenly a disembodied voice yelled out in the confusion.

"Stupefy!"

A red light burst out of nowhere and hit one of the men in the face. He fell over and Ryou wondered vaguely if he was dead.

The other man pointed what could only be called a wand at the redheaded boy, Ron and shot ropes from the tip that wove around and tied him up, causing him to fall heavily to the floor.

There was another flash of red light heading towards the man, following another disembodied yell. It missed, and Ryou dove to the side as it headed directly for him.

The sudden jolt as he dove to the floor made him drop the Shadows, just as the waitress was hit by another rebounding red light as her was attempting to edge to the back.

One of the men yelled something and a table exploded, sending splinters across the room that imbedded themselves deep into whatever they hit. Ryou pulled up a quick shield from a shadow he was laying near, nothing near as powerful as Mirror Force, but he didn't have time to reach his deck before being skewered.

Against the opposite wall, another boy, this one with black hair and glasses, had appeared seemingly from nowhere, having been slammed by the explosion. A little blood was oozing from several small cuts the boy had gathered from the wooded shards. The man smirked and started walking towards the boy meaningfully.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Ryou had forgotten about the girl, Hermione in the confusing battle. So had the last man, judging from the surprise in his eyes as he attempted to whirl towards her in time.

The spell hit the man dead on in the face and he collapsed to the floor. With a quick gulp, the girl moved towards Ron and quickly cut him free with a quick spell. The other boy took this time to move to the side from where he'd fallen and grab the stick he'd dropped after being flung across the room before moving towards the remaining two standing.

Now Ryou was a calm person. He rarely raised his voice, and he could count the amount of times he'd sworn on one hand. This was discounting the spirit of course, who was _technically_ a part of him, but he didn't feel the need to add that. This however, he felt deserved some form of vulgarity.

"What the _hell_ just happened?" It wasn't much, but it made him feel somewhat better.

The two – three teens spun around to face Ryou, who was sitting on the floor, hair and shoulders covered in plaster and paint chips that had fallen from the ceiling and walls.

He suddenly found three sticks in his face.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Ron blurted out loudly.

"_Me_?" Ryou laughed worriedly, "Where the _hell_ did _he_ come from?" he pointed at the new boy who'd appeared at the wall moments before. "What on earth just happened and why the heck did those men attack you?"

"Never mind that," the girl whispered to Ron, ignoring Ryou, "Just tie him up. We can Obliviate him with the rest."

"Do what to me?" Ryou asked hastily. That didn't sound good.

He was ignored once more and the bespectacled dark haired boy moved to cast the same spell the now unconscious man had used on Ron minutes ago. Ryou jumped to his feet and, at the exact moment the new boy cast the spell, Ryou managed to pull out a card from his pocket.

"Negate Attack!" He cried hurriedly.

The spell card pulled the ropes that shot out with the spells called incantation into its colourful swirling vortex harmlessly before vanishing back into its image on the card.

"How did you do that?" The boy asked flabbergasted. The other two were staring at him in equal measures of shock and suspicion.

"Are you a wizard?" the girl asked. Suspicion even more evident in her tone.

Ryou wasn't sure he'd heard her correctly, but he was getting somewhat angry.

"Look here," Ryou said, keeping his voice level, "I'm somewhat jet lagged and rather tired, not to mention in the past hour I've been harassed by drunks, eaten a stale bun and drunk an absolutely awful cup of coffee. Not to mention having a room blow up around me!"

Ryou paused for a moment, replaying what he'd just said in his mind.

"Actually, all things considering," he mused with a humourless smile, "This has probably been one of the least intense days I've ever had."

"We don't have time for this!" Hermione sighed, "Harry, keep an eye on him. Ron, come help me set things right."

The two teens nodded to her and Ron joined Hermione and together they started moving the limp bodies into the positions they were before the fight had broken out.

"Are they dead?" Ryou asked monotonously, motioning to the bodies.

"What? No! We wouldn't kill someone!" The boy, - Harry – said horrified at the very implication.

Ryou looked at the boy. He was about Ryou's age, maybe a bit younger. He looked like he'd been through a lot lately. He looked like something was weighing heavily on him.

Ryou felt sorry for the kid, Ryou knew most people considered him rather naïve and foolish, but the Ryou that existed now was a balance between the ancient thief and himself, at least to an extent. He didn't remember much from the spirit's past, but he did recall more than one fatality at his hands in the mist he felt at the back of his soul room. He might have tried to comfort the boy with those facts, but he wasn't dumb enough to think that would go over well in any way. He didn't think the boy needed to know what he'd done; past life or not. _Nobody_ needed to know he remembered killing people.

"Oh, okay then." Ryou said, bringing his mind back to the present, "Your name's Harry right?"

The boy stiffened at the mention of his name, as if expecting something to happen.

"Yes." Harry said shortly. The boy rubbed his forehead. Ryou felt something give off a strange, painful twinge…

"I'm Ryou Bakura, but most people just call me Bakura." Ryou said, shaking the feeling off. Might as well make conversation, he thought, maybe get some information.

Harry said nothing in reply. He glanced over where his friends were repairing the wall, nervously wishing they would hurry up so they could start moving again.

"This is a great homecoming for me, I must say," Ryou continued, trying to fill the silence, "My first time in England in almost eight years, not that I'm surprised really. This sort of thing tends to follow me."

He didn't know why he said that, other than to try and keep him own panic at bay by speaking, at least he didn't let anything important slip. He also hoped that at least seemingly opening up would help in getting information, or at least get the boy to talk some more.

It worked, sort of.

Harry looked at Ryou. "Are you a wizard?"

Ryou rolled his eyes, "You've asked that already!" he sighed, "And I have no idea what you mean by that. I'm quite sure there's no such thing as wizards, honestly! All magic pretty much died out three thousand years ago."

"Of course there're wizards." Harry said, "What do you think we are?" he motioned at his friends who were pointing their wands at the men muttering, while walls repaired themselves and chairs flew back into place.

"People affected by the broken Seal?" Ryou hazarded a guess, knowing Harry wouldn't understand the implications.

"The what..?" Harry blinked before shaking his head, "Never mind," the boy said, "How did you deflect my spell then if you're not a wizard?"

"I used magic." Ryou said frankly, suddenly he wasn't in the mood to be overly agreeable. Lack of sleep did that to you, and the boy wasn't being very nice or helpful.

"But you said you aren't a wizard!" the boy said angrily.

"I'm not!" Ryou protested once more. He was getting a tad indignant.

Harry was about to ask more, a frown still on his face, but Hermione and Ron approached.

"Harry, we're done," She said, "We just need to Obliviate him and we can go."

"What do you mean, Obliviate me?" Ryou asked again with all concern.

"Erase your memory of this ever happening." Hermione said factually.

"Oh," Ryou said, "No thanks, I'd rather not."

And with that he pulled the shadows in around him and, invisible, he whispered for Diabound who invisibly and silently, moved him backwards through the wall and into the alley behind the café.

He heard the yells of shock caused by his disappearance, but he didn't stop. Ryou had to find out what was going on here, he had his other plans, but they were just going to have to wait. He had to make sure this Volde-whatever wasn't a situation like Zork all over again.

.

.

.

.

*Edited 17/02/10

A/N: Thank you to the people who have put this story on their alerts or favs. While I appreciate any reviews I get to help me improve the quality of my writing and keep me motivated, I won't force anyone to do so... but I would be most grateful. ^^


	4. Chapter 4: UDJYT

Title: Shadow Balance

Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past. 

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world.

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR: UDJYT – EXPEDITION

Harry looked at his friends in shock. "What just happened?" he asked.

"Did he disapparate?" Ron asked Hermione, his face twisted into a look of utter confusion.

She frowned and shook her head, "I don't think so, he disappeared too slowly for disapparation, and it was too quiet. Let's not hang around though. We can talk about it when we get somewhere safe."

She was right; Harry could hear drunken laughter outside. The Muggle world seemed so far away after this, even if they were technically still in it. He felt exposed, especially since that guy had gotten away.

"Grimmauld Place." Harry said. It was the first thing to pop into his head.

"But Snape –"

Harry shook his head as he recalled something he'd over-heard, "Moody put up some spells to block him."

Hermione looked uncertain but nodded, "Okay. We can't hang around here any more, especially since that boy got away. We don't know his alliances; he could be heading for Voldemort right now for all we know!"

"Let's go." Ron said in agreement.

And with that, the three disappeared, with a few well aimed spells to wake up the three in the café.

They didn't know how lucky they were for leaving, as with Voldemorts name in the air once more, it was only a matter of time before even more Death Eaters closed in on the café.

* * *

The alley behind the café had not been pleasant; there were broken bottles scattered around and several uncollected garbage bags that had ripped, spilling decay onto the pavement. Ryou stepped in something soft, closing his eyes he tried not to think about it.

Blocking his nose, he let Diabound return to his soul and started walking briskly out the alley. He tried desperately to get his bearings while wandering down a new street. It was crowded with pub-goers and clubbers who for the most part paid him no attention.

What had that boy – Harry, been talking about? It made sense, he decided. The magic on them wasn't Shadow magic. It felt lighter for the most part, Weaker. There had been that strange twinge he'd gotten too, it had felt… strange, in a way he couldn't explain. All of this could only mean one thing; there was other magic.

Was there a magic that had been left behind after the Seal? Or maybe when the Seal was formed it caused the magic to split. Like how he and Yugi's past selves had split with the forming of the Seal. That might explain why shadow magic was so picky now that the Seal had been broken...

Looking at a street sign, he realised he was in Charing Cross. Bringing himself out of his thoughts, Ryou scanned the shops on the street looking for the Leaky Cauldron. He hoped it was an inn of some sort, although this didn't really seem like the right part of town for that sort of place. He was getting really tired though. The coffee hadn't helped at all.

He finally spotted it; he'd only noticed it at all because of the pervasive feeling of magic. It was a small dingy looking pub, but it didn't have drunks hanging around it being disgustingly loud, like every other pub he'd seen so far.

He wasn't too far away from it, so he decided to start towards it. He was almost to the pub when he bumped into a strange man wearing a dark red cloak. On instinct almost, Ryou plucked a small bag off of the man's belt as the man walked into him. The man gave Ryou a look of disgust as Ryou apologized for bumping into him.

The man muttered something under his breath, before his face twisted into what the man must have thought gave the impression of good humoured patience as he gave a strained apology back before disappearing down the street. Ryou blinked as the man walked off and turned into the first alley, vanishing from view.

Had the man just called him a Muggle? What on earth…

Those teens had said something about Muggle money, Ryou remembered, his curiosity rising. He looked at the pub, only metres away, and headed in.

The pub was dusty and dark, it was also mainly empty, and the people that were there were huddled together in small groups and talking in hushed tones. When Ryou entered, everyone looked up from what they were doing and stared at him in silence. He could see their eyes flicker to his hair and clothes.

He stood awkwardly, wishing he could just pull the Shadows around him again, but knowing at this point it would just be stupid and more revealing than anything. After what seemed like an eternity, the occupants appeared to have deemed him to not be a threat and they shifted back to their original positions.

Sighing in relief, he walked in and looked for an empty table. Spotting one, he headed over and slid into a chair in the corner of the pub. He pulled the Shadows slightly, making him, while not completely unnoticeable, pretty ignorable. Settling down he pulled out the bag he'd grabbed from the man, and tipped the contents out onto the table quietly.

Large gold coins slid out and Ryou's eyes widened. For a moment he thought he'd stolen antique doubloons or a family heirloom from the man, and he started regretting what he'd done, when he peered around the room and noticed people paying at the bar with similar coins.

Was this what the…_wizards_ used as money?

In this day and age?

Looking around at the hushed people dressed in robes and cloaks, Ryou realized it was probably a good thing he was wearing his long trench coat now. The coat could almost pass for what the people here were wearing.

Making a decision, he got up from the table he walked to the bar and signalled the barman, who was busy pouring some drinks for a couple of imposing figures who kept their heads down; Ryou watched them pay the man with silver coins before they moved off to the corner Ryou had been sitting moments before.

The barman then moved down towards Ryou, taking in Ryou's size and face and seemingly deciding that Ryou was too young to be ordering a drink he made a quick assumption and ran with it.

"You want a room?" the man said gruffly.

Ah! So this was an inn, Ryou thought happily. He was tired enough to sleep in a dumpster by this point.

Ryou nodded, "how much?" he asked.

The barman said something… sickles? What on earth? Ryou grunted noncommittally and shoved a few gold coins forward, hoping things would work themselves out.

The man took them and counted them out. After a moment, eyebrows raised he said, "So you'll be wanting to stay two weeks?"

That sounded okay, Ryou could always leave earlier if he needed to.

He nodded and took the bronze key the man handed him.

"Seventh door on the left." The man grunted, before moving away.

Ryou muttered his thanks before moving away. He turned around, facing away from the bar, looking for the way to his room. He finally noticed a dimly lit stairway, and sighed with relief. He moved towards the stairway and up to his room. He was too exhausted to scout for anymore information about this 'wizard world' tonight.

The room was small, but clean. He noticed it was connected to a small bathroom as well. Ryou smiled in relief when he saw the inviting bed. Locking the door he kicked off his shoes and put his coat and bag on the chair next to his bed.

He flopped on the mattress with his knife still at his belt. Kicking the blanket down, he buried his face in the pillow.

"Diabound, keep watch." He sighed in his sleep and rolled over as his Ka monster materialized in the room for a moment before vanishing into its surroundings.

* * *

Meanwhile Harry, Ron and Hermione were getting settled at Grimmauld Place.

"Who was that guy?" Ron stormed, "How the hell did he just show up there, we checked the place when we entered – it was empty!"

They knew Ron was just worried, they all were. How had those Death Eaters found them so quickly?

"I don't know Ron," Harry said, "its strange though, he seemed familiar."

"He did, didn't he?" Ron agreed surprisingly.

Hermione looked at them both, confused, "He did? Do you think he's from Hogwarts?"

Harry shook his head, "No, while I was watching him he told me he hadn't been in England in eight years."

"He did have a bit of an accent, didn't he?" she said, "And he did say he was jet-lagged."

"Maybe he's a foreign wizard, maybe we met him at the World Cup or something," said Ron.

"I asked him," Harry frowned, "He seemed confused when I used the word wizard; he said there wasn't supposed to be any magic in the world anymore."

"Sounds like a Muggle then." Ron said, brushing it off.

"But we saw him do magic, Ron!" Hermione stated.

"He didn't know who I was," Harry mused, "The polyjuice potion I took at the wedding had worn off and he didn't recognize me."

They were quiet for awhile as this sunk in.

"Harry, did he tell you his name? Maybe I can find some information about him." Hermione said.

Harry nodded "He told me his name was Ryou Bakura."

* * *

*A/N: Due to the shortness of the last chapter, I've uploaded another... short chapter sooner than I was planning. ^^ Don't expect updates this often though, I'm going to start going slower so I can focus on quality a bit more. X/


	5. Chapter 5: KHEI

Title: Shadow Balance

Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past. 

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world. 

* * *

CHAPTER FIVE: KHEI - APPEARANCE

"Bakura?!" Ron exclaimed.

They looked at him in surprise.

"You know him?" Harry asked.

"Well, not really," Ron said, "But Bill works with – I mean, _worked_ with a British-Japanese man called Bakura in Egypt. I met him before third year, when we went to Egypt. He seemed the sort of person Bill would hang out with; the guy had a blue ponytail and everything! He was a Muggle though."

"Do you think they're related?" Hermione pressed.

Ron frowned, "Hang on, I think they are. I remember I was wondering around a dig site once with Bill and Ginny when we bumped into Mr. Bakura. He had a kid with him, about our age – with white hair, like that guy we saw."

"That must be him!" Hermione said, "It's not like that's a common feature!"

Ron nodded before continuing, "Mr. Bakura didn't seem very happy to see us at the time. He looked pretty strained; he didn't even introduce us to the kid. The kid looked pretty shy, but he gave off this weird vibe. We didn't see the kid after that, so I didn't really bother thinking about it at the time. We figured he'd left after that or just didn't do well in the sun, and preferred to stay indoors."

"Weird how?" Harry asked, thinking about what Ron had just said.

Ron scratched his head, "I don't know how to describe it; it was kind of intense I guess."

They sat in silence, thinking about this.

"Well, if his father worked with Bill I doubt he's a threat," Harry said slowly, "We should focus on the Horcruxes; we still have to worry about Voldemort." Even as Harry said that, he still felt something niggle in the back of his mind. Something about that guy reminded him of something long ago…

Hermione nodded, "I have some books we can go through, but if we have time I think we should look into this Bakura guy, Ron's right – there's something strange about him."

No one disagreed with her.

* * *

Ryou was having an interesting week. On the second day of his stay at the Leaky Cauldron, he'd followed some witches behind the pub and into a place called Diagon Alley. Since then he'd spent his every waking moment exploring it and the place called Knockturn Alley.

On the whole it was a dreary place, and people were moving in small groups and not staying anywhere long. This made it difficult for him to pick pocket some more gold, but he managed to get a reasonable amount nonetheless. He tried to keep the stealing to a minimum, but he got carried away a few times.

On one occasion, he bumped into a shifty looking man who was standing outside the Leaky Cauldron. The man had a bag that looked _stereotypically_ like a swag bag with him, filled with different magical looking items. As Ryou walked past him, shooting his hand out, he found himself walking away with a large gold locket. The man didn't notice. If anything he stood taller and looked in much better cheer with the absence of the locket.

His cheer didn't last long though, as he was setting up a place to sell, a squat woman in a pink dress marched towards him and started talking in a sweet voice that made Ryou automatically block her out.

Ryou didn't dwell on it though, walking quickly out of the confrontation zone. He looked at the locket. It was fairly big, and was quite ornate. It also looked rather expensive, but he didn't really like touching it, despite its beauty. The locket gave off a magical energy he didn't like and he quickly sent it to the Shadows to be guarded by Dark Necrofear. He still felt a bit strange though, even with it gone.

The first shop he'd actually gone to was a clothing store called Madam Malkins, where he bought himself a hooded cloak first thing. He didn't want to stand out in this place, it just didn't feel safe. He immediately pulled the cloak on and wore it when ever he left his room at the Leaky Cauldron. He could walk around unnoticed without the aid of the shadows now.

Summoning the shadows so often was starting to wear him out. He wasn't used to it

Fortunately summoning Diabound was different to other Shadow monsters and magic's, since it was _his_ Ka monster and therefore a part of his soul, making it easier to keep him around at night to guard him. Necrofear hadn't been brought out of the Shadows once yet, but she was guarding the growing pile of loot and luggage he was sending through.

He'd had Diabound guard him on instinct the first night, but as Ryou learned more about the wizarding world, he found himself feeling safer sleeping with Diabound watching.

While wizard's magic was weaker than Shadow magic, seeing as it seemed to focus on _either_ light or dark from what he'd seen, meaning it was never able to reach the full potential of the Shadows, it was still dangerous and Ryou didn't want to get caught off guard by one of the 'Death Eaters' who's poster's covered the street.

On his fourth day, Ryou found a shop that defied the overall impression of the alley; it was bright and noisy with a dramatic sign proclaiming it to be…

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes." Ryou read.

Weasley? As in Bill Weasley? Ryou wondered, moving to the shop to find out, curiosity overwhelming him. Could Bill be a wizard? Ryou didn't know the man well enough to make an educated guess, but he was hopeful. That wasn't the only thing to overwhelm him, as he walked into the shop; the place was filled, at least in comparison to the rest of the alley he'd seen.

In his time in Diagon Alley Ryou hadn't seen so many people in one place ever! Looking at the displays he saw why. While he'd seen plenty of wizards' magic in the past few days, this place really defined _magic_! It was colourful and noisy, and people were looking at displays with smiles. Things on the shelves moved or changed colours as people examined them.

One display in particular caught Ryou's eye; Extendable Ears. Recalling his earlier eavesdropping, and his need to collect more information, he moved towards it, pulling his hood down to get a better look at the long thin tubes.

"Blimey Fred, look at him!" Ryou heard behind him.

"By George, George! I wonder how he got his hair like that." Ryou stiffened and turned around to face the voices.

It was two boys, older than him, but not by much. Both had flaming red hair, and they looked as if they may have once been identical twins, if one didn't currently have a hole where his ear should have been.

"Oh, um… hello?" Ryou said to them awkwardly. He was never good at meeting new people.

The one with the missing ear said, "What do you make of him, Fred?"

"Never seen him before, George."

"Can't just trust anyone in here,"

"Had the wrong sort buy things before."

"Bad times." George agreed.

Ryou looked at them; "Excuse me, but are you the owners of this place?" they looked similar to Bill, Ryou noticed, the same hair and a similar attitude.

They broke off their discussion of him and nodded.

"Are you related to _Bill_ Weasley?" He asked.

"'Corse we are," George said.

"Everyone knows that." Fred agreed.

"Why?" they both asked, suddenly suspicious.

Ryou broke into a smile, maybe they would be able to help him, "That's great!" he exclaimed, "My father used to work with him in Egypt, until Bill left to get married."

The twins looked at each other, "Didn't Bill work at a Muggle site?" Fred whispered.

"Yeah, he was the only wizard on there to make sure the Muggles didn't stumble onto anything."

"What's your name kid?" Fred asked.

"Ryou Bakura."

The twins looked at each other and nodded before signalling a lady.

"We're going to the back" George said to her.

"Keep an eye on the shop." Fred added.

She nodded, "Yes Sirs."

Then they walked Ryou through the crowd and into what looked like a small staff room.

They pulled out their wands and performed a few spells on the room before they sat him down and then looked at him.

"Four years ago our family visited Bill in Egypt." Fred said.

"There was a Mr. Bakura there, we spent a bit of time with him," George said.

"He was a Muggle, so we had to be careful though," Fred agreed.

"So what we want to know is, since you obviously managed to get here is,"

"Who,"

"And what,"

"Are you?" Fred finished.

Ryou looked at them.

"What's a Muggle?"

This was one thing be hadn't found out yet, he'd heard the word many times now though. He just didn't understand the meaning from the contexts he'd heard.

"A non-magic person."

Ah! That explained it.

"Are you one?" Fred asked.

Ryou shook his head, "I can use magic."

"Mr. Bakura didn't mention he had a son, and you don't look much like him, what with the hair."

Ryou laughed mirthlessly at that, "Yeah, no one in my direct family had hair like mine, but it is a family trait going back. I'm not surprised father didn't talk about me though. He doesn't like to mention me much, I alarm him. I guess."

The twins looked a bit disturbed at that, "You scare your father?"

Ryou shrugged, "Because I can do magic I guess." His father didn't actually _know_ Ryou could do magic, but he wasn't going to go into the whole Monster World fiasco now, especially in this situation. He'd only just met these people after all, even if they did seem nice.

The twins nodded in understanding, "Yeah that can happen with Muggle-borns,"

"It goes in reverse in the wizarding world with squibs – Muggles born to wizards."

Ryou decided to move the conversation along, this was getting too uncomfortable.

"But the thing is I'm new to the wizarding world, or at least the British magical community. I stumbled across it by chance after I heard some teens mention it in a café... Honestly, I have no idea what's going on!"

Ryou had decided to take the opportunity to learn more about what was happening. He knew from the spirit pretending to be him so many times that at least _pretending_ to be honest and naïve was more useful in gaining trust and information. Ryou, unfortunately, did not have the talent for lying, even with their souls merged. Telling half truths was the best he could manage, if that.

The twins looked at each other before looking at Ryou.

"We'll give you some information," Fred said.

"Can't have a kid like you getting himself killed," George agreed.

"As is likely to happen in these times,"

"Especially to a Muggle-born."

"It'd be nice to help someone," Fred said to George.

"Especially since our shop will be probably be gone within a month or two." George agreed.

"Wait, why would you go, you're shop seems to be the only one with any customers?" Ryou asked, confused.

"We're considered blood traitors." Fred answered.

"With the fall of the ministry, we're going to be hunted down pretty soon."

"Even if they don't,"

"We'll still be under constant scrutiny ."

At Ryou's confused look, the twins elaborated and for the next half hour Ryou learned about what was happening in the wizarding world, before wondering out back into Diagon Alley with his hood up and his pockets filled with WWW products.

* * *

A few days later, Ryou was in a Knockturn alley shop called Borgan and Burkes. It was an interesting place he'd found, and he'd spent quite an amount of time there.

Ryou had found himself drawn to a shelf claiming to be thief's tools. Looking at them, he noticed a pocket knife that looked almost identical to the card _Seven Tools of the Bandit_.

Grinning, he created a Shadow replica with a bit of effort. He picked up the tool and after checking for any anti-theft spells and Finding only minor ones he quickly disabled them and pocketed it.

Most of the shops in Diagon Alley didn't bother spelling their stock to prevent theft, but after an incident he'd had earlier in another Knockturn shop, in which a beautiful occult item he'd taken a liking to, but which was much to expensive for him to afford, had taken to screaming in a high-pitched voice, he'd learned to check. The incident had not been fun; Ryou had panicked and dropped the item when the shopkeeper had yelled from the back of the shop. The item continued shrieking on the ground. Ryou had run out the shop quickly pulling in the Shadows to hide him. He'd watched from the corner as the shopkeeper came out with a weird block of wood, which Ryou assumed was some kind of thief detector. After a minute of pointing it up and down the street, the man walked back into the shop grumbling.

In Borgan and Burkes he continued looking, and once again found himself entranced by another object. It was a grotesque shrivelled severed hand. A sign under it proclaimed it to be the Hand of Glory, an object that gives light to only the barer. Ryou picked it up and carried it to the counter. This was something worth paying for.

Walking around Knockturn Alley, he decided to stop over in one of the pubs. It was very different to the Leaky Cauldron; It was smaller and while they were both dimly lit and dusty, this place made it feel more like a part of the décor than just fear and neglect.

Ryou walked up to the bar, his hood pulled over his face and a thin layer of Shadows obscuring any visible features, he ordered a shot of Fire Whiskey – the bartender didn't ask for any identification. Picking up the small glass Ryou walked away from the counter and sat down in a corner booth.

There was a copy of the Daily Prophet lying on the table. Picking it up, and to his surprise, Ryou saw a large photo of Harry, the boy he'd run into.

WANTED FOR QUESTIONING ABOUT THE DEATH OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE.

Ryou immediately skimmed the article in interest. Was the boy he met really a murder suspect?

Ryou shook his head, it was impossible. He remembered the way that boy had acted when Ryou implied he'd killed those Death Eaters. But he couldn't be sure, after all, just because he didn't have the spirit's well honed skill at lying didn't mean others suffered the same impediment.

The boy who lived? Ryou read, that was something the twins had mentioned. Did that mean the Harry he met was Harry _Potter_, the supposed saviour of the wizarding world?

Ryou looked through the rest of the paper, noticing the article on Muggle-born Registrations. The twins had mentioned that, which was one of the reasons he was trying to keep such a low profile. Walking around the Alley's he'd heard several horror stories about what was happening to anyone suspected of having no magical relatives.

Ryou watched as a group of people walked into the pub. He recognized a few of the faces from the posters littered around the streets.

Death Eaters.

Ryou watched cautiously as they sat down in a booth and started whispering, one signalled the barman, who practically ran over with a tray of drinks. Ryou could tell the Death Eaters were used to this treatment, and it didn't look like they were expected to pay either.

Quickly, Ryou pulled out one of the Extendable Ears and, covering it with a layer of Shadows, directed it towards the Death Eaters.

Most of the conversation was undecipherable, even with the ears. However Ryou managed to catch reference to two things. The first was what amounted to jealousy; the Death Eaters seemed upset about favouritism towards someone named Bellatrix. The second thing Ryou managed to catch was something about an extremely important and valuable dark item which was being sent to be kept for the Dark Lord in the LeStrange vault.

Pulling back the ear, Ryou decided he wanted to go for it. He was going to break into Gringotts and steal from the Dark Lord. He didn't know when the item would get to the vault though, or even how to navigate Gringotts; he didn't trust the goblins there so he'd avoided it up until now.

This would take planning.

* * *

Harry, Ron and Hermione had been making discoveries of their own back at Grimmauld Place. Their second day there they'd not only found out who R.A.B was from Harry's wandering around the desolate old house, but they'd also made an interesting discovery in the form of Kreacher the house elf.

Kreacher had become a well of information about Regulus Black; helping the three no end before Harry sent him after the Horcrux Locket that Kreacher told them Mundungus had stolen.

It was a few days later, Hermione had taken to reading, while Ron helped out where he could. Currently however, Hermione was at the Muggle supermarket. She'd left under the cloak half an hour ago, as they'd run out of food and they'd found it impossibly difficult to transfigure any.

Harry was keeping watch by the window, all day there had been suspicious looking men across the street. They were probably Death Eater's watching the area, but unable to see or enter Grimmauld Place. He hoped Hermione would be alright.

Harry sighed and went to join Ron. He was still confused about the guy at the café.

Ron's explanation for how _he_ recognized him made sense, but it didn't explain why Bakura seemed familiar to Harry.

Suddenly, Hermione burst through the door. The cloak over her was pulled off and revealed several shopping bags which she dropped on the table.

"You won't believe what I found!" she said excitedly as she dug through one of the bags.

Finally she pulled out a Muggle magazine and handed it to Harry.

"What's going on?" Ron asked, walking into the room.

"I found out who Bakura is!" Hermione said triumphantly.

"What?"

Harry looked at the magazine she passed him. It was a colourful gaming magazine, like the sort Dudley used to get when he was younger. On the cover it said in bold letters over a dramatic photo of a leather clad boy with wild hair;

BATTLE CITY EXCLUSIVE! BIOS ON YOUR FAVOURITE DUEL MONSTER FINALISTS! LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ULTIMATE GAMER YUGI MOTOU AND MORE!

Underneath this, in smaller capitals was a list of names;

YUGI MOTOU

SETO KAIBA

MARIK ISHTAR

RISHID ISHTAR

ISIS ISHTAR

KATSUYA JOUNOUCHI

MAI KUJAKU

RYOU BAKURA.

Ryou Bakura!

"The magazine is really old," Hermione said, "It was just lying there. It was pure luck I spotted it!"

Harry looked at the date on the corner; it was almost two years old!

"Duel Monsters?" Ron said, "What's that?"

"A Muggle card game from America." Hermione said, "Well, open it Harry! I want to see what it says!"

Harry flipped to the contents page, "page twenty-three." He muttered.

When they got to the page, looking up at them was a school photo of a pale boy with soft brown eyes and long white hair.

"That's him!" Harry said, "I mean, he's older now, but it's still him."

"Read what it says Harry."

"_NAME: RYOU BAKURA_

_The first contender knocked out of the finals at battle city against Yugi Motou, the King of Games._

_Bakura's deck focuses on the occult, and it has been rumoured that he enjoys using the graphic nature of monsters in his deck to unnerve the competition, putting them on edge and allowing him to over power them with the power of the incredibly rare Dark Sanctuary field card._

_Bakura was born in England, making him the only British finalist at Battle City. Originally from Surrey, England; Bakura moved around Brittan with his family until the death of his mother and sister, at which he moved to Japan before finally settling in Battle City itself; Domino._

_Many rumours' follow this duellist, including hints of a dark past; but none of the rumours seem to have any basis in truth, Including a rumour similar to the one that follows the King of Games himself; that Bakura is possessed by an ancient spirit."  
_

"Rumours of possession?" said Ron, "Do you think You-Know-Who –"

Hermione shook her head, "No, look at the time frame. Two years ago was when Voldemort was with Wormtail. Plus, it says Bakura was in Japan at the time."

"Surrey…" Harry whispered.

"What was that Harry?" Ron asked.

"Bakura lived in Surrey." Harry said, "I think that's where I remember him from. I think he went to my school for a while."

"What?" Ron yelled.

Harry frowned, "I was really young, and it was like my second year of school. I was six, maybe seven. There was a boy a year higher than me. I don't remember his name, but I recall he was picked on even more than I was. The kids always referred to him as 'the Albino Freak' or 'Ghost Boy' because of his hair and obsession with ghosts."

"Bakura!" Ron said rather redundantly.

Harry looked thoughtful, he remembered something else.

"I remember there was some big incident involving him and two kids from his year level. His family left town soon after. I think the other two are still in hospital."

"Still in hospital?" Hermione looked horrified, "After _eleven_ years?"

Harry shrugged, "I think they went into a coma or something. I'm not sure."

Ron shivered, "This guy sounds dangerous. What sort of kid sends people into comas and has on obsession with darkness and ghosts? It explains why his dad tried to hide him from us back in Egypt."

"Ron!" Hermione said aghast, "I doubt he did it on purpose, it was probably just a horrible accident. We don't know he was the cause; maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Besides, he doesn't exactly look evil," She said pointing at the photo of the almost angelic looking boy.

Harry was quiet. This reminded him too much of Voldemort's childhood.

A sweet looking boy getting revenge on other children with disproportionate results, and if the kid he remembered _was_ Bakura, it was all too plausibly that as a kid he'd done the same to those boys who'd tormented him. Especially when he looked at it in the context Ron has just said.

Appearances could be deceiving after all.

* * *

*A/N: I hope this makes sense and I didn't make too many glaring errors. Writing only past midnight doesn't do much for coherency I believe, but it's the only time I have.


	6. Chapter 6: IAHTU

Title: Shadow Balance

Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past. 

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world.

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS GRAPHIC VIOLENCE AND SOME ANGST…** Well this story _is_ under the drama section and rated T for a reason I suppose...

* * *

CHAPTER SIX: IAHTU – PLACE OF EXECUTION

Kreacher showed up the next day at Grimmauld Place, dragging a screaming Mundungus with him with some difficulty. The trio were in the kitchen as usual, books and parchment scattered over the table top and spilling on to the floor. With the arrival of the house elf and Mundungus, Ron gave a loud squawk and toppled over in his chair, parchment flying across the room as a result.

Mundungus was struggling against the old elf, who was hanging on to the man with a bony, vice like grip. Kreacher was giving the man evil looks and seemed to be taking every opportunity to give the man a kick. Harry pushed his chair back and stood up.

"Enough!" He roared.

Mundungus and Kreacher froze before turning to face Harry. Dung's eyes widened at the sight of him before he quickly put on an air of indignation.

"Set a bleeding house elf on me, did ya?!" He fumed, "What've I ever done to be treated like this?"

"That's what we want to find out." Harry said calmly, "I know you took a bunch of things from here when the Order left,"

He was cut off by Dung yelling, "Sirius never cared for those things, 'e hated this place! You can't blame me 'fer that; 'E'd have done it 'E's self if he could!"

"Shut up!" Harry said, the mention of Sirius had upset him, and anger was evident in his tone.

Dung fell silent, watching Harry cautiously.

"What we want to know," Harry said, forcing himself to be calm, "is if you took a large gold locket from Kreacher's cupboard."

"Why? Is it worth much?" Dung said, eyes gleaming.

"He sold it!" Ron yelled out.

Harry looked at Dung sharply, "Did you?"

"I wish!" Dung whined quickly, "I had something like that for awhile, but it disappeared before I could fob it off. 'Course, I wouldn't have had the chance to anyway. What with that ministry woman taking the rest of my stock in the same day."

"Do you have any idea where it could have gone?" Harry pressed.

"Na – Wait! I remember this guy bumping into me outside the Leaky Cauldron. I didn't go near anyone else while I had it, so it had to be him."

"What did he look like?"

"Not sure," Dung shook his head, "'E had a hood on."

"You must have noticed something."

Mundungus was quiet for a moment, thinking.

"From what I saw 'e was kind of pale." He said slowly, "Think I saw some white hair under 'es hood. In fact, 'e looked like that peculiar albino kid that's been hanging around Diagon Alley lately."

The three looked at each other, faces drained of blood. It had to be Bakura again, who else could it be?

And now he had a Horcrux.

* * *

Ryou woke up to the sound of banging. Getting up, he pulled on his cloak before he walked barefoot to the door of his room.

He opened it cautiously, and found himself looking down to face the pink lady he'd seen on his second day in the Alley. Behind her were two burly men.

"Can I help you?" he asked politely.

The woman gave him a sickly sweet smile and spoke in a high-pitched voice, "We're here from the Muggle-born Registration Commission. We have reason to believe you have no magical relatives, is that correct?"

Ryou remembered what the twins had told him, and the article he'd read yesterday. They'd moved fast! How'd they find him? He hadn't exactly been advertising his presence.

"No, that's false," he said to her, "I can trace magic in my ancestry back three thousand years." He was referring to the Tomb Robber of course.

This didn't seem to be what the woman wanted to hear however. She forced herself into the room, the men following her.

"Oh? If that's so I'm sure you wouldn't mind coming down to the ministry with us to confirm this."

"Actually, I would mind. I have business to attend and I'd rather not have to put it off." He'd planned on scouting out the bank today.

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice in the matter." She smiled as the men behind her moved forward.

Moving back, Ryou silently cursed. He couldn't just vanish from here _in front_ of them; he didn't want ministry officials knowing what magic he could do. There was only one more option. Slipping his knife into his hand subtly, he quietly said, "Please leave, I really would hate for you to force my hand."

The men ignored him. Wands out, one of the men gave a sick grin and shot a spell at him. Moving quickly, Ryou moved behind the first man, holding his knife against the man's neck. Ryou warned them one more time, "If you leave now you'll have the fortune of _not_ leaving in a body bag." He knew the threat sounded forced, he wasn't much good at this sort of thing.

They didn't listen, and Ryou would be upset about happened next for a very long time.

The man who had grinned before had a sadistic glint in his eyes. Ryou wasn't expecting such quick response when their colleague's life was on the line, and didn't expect it when a spell hit him in the face. He flinched backwards, his knife cutting the man he was threatening lightly. His face felt warm and pain streaked down his cheek, he could barely open his left eye either. The man pulled out of his grasp and was yelling at the other man, obviously mad at his companion's disregard for his life. Ryou couldn't hear what they were saying though, buzzing filled his ears. Touching his face he could feel a stinging cut down his cheek. Looking at his hand he looked at the blood.

His blood…

_Bakura was heading back to Kul Elna. His father and uncle would be returning today with some of the other men from their tomb robbing expedition, they'd been gone for almost a month. When they returned, the older children would help them melt down the gold. The woman and a few of the men would then travel to the larger city of Deshret to the north to buy food and supplies for the village._

_The village of Kul Elna was out in the desert, the only water supply was the oasis which supplied them with drinking water for them and the horses and camels. They couldn't do any farming this far from the Nile; the ground was just too dry. They couldn't keep bees or cattle for the same reason. The only means the village had was the robbers travelling to the royal necropolis to steal the riches and sell what they got to feed their village._

_Bakura couldn't wait to get home, he'd been travelling all day. He was only eight, but he'd begged his mother to let him go to town to steal a coming home gift for his father. She hadn't wanted him to go alone; she always worried about him because he looked so different from everyone else. _

_When he was born, the village leader had been the only reason the other villagers hadn't killed him for being a demon. The leader calmed the villagers down and told them that his white hair and grey eyes weren't a sign that he was an evil spirit; rather that he was destined to be a great thief who would bring honour to the village. Some villagers still feared him, and some still called him _seba(1)_ behind his back._

_Eventually, His mother only let him go after she'd made him rub some clay into his hair and had covered it with some cloth._

_When he'd arrived in the town, he'd looked around the market for something to give his father. Wandering into the expensive area of the market he saw rows of fruit, meat and fish. Eyeing the food in wonder he knew this was the place to get something. Food was the most valuable commodity in their village, there was no point getting something else. He wanted to get something delicious to give to his father, a fruit or some honey. _

_Walking along the stalls, he saw a large light green round, fruit. Moving closer, he noticed a light sweet smell from it. A melon! He'd only once tasted melon before, they'd only had them in the village a few times, and normally only the adults or sick children were given any. He'd been given some a year ago for dehydration after him and some of the other children spent the day in the desert to see who could last longest. Bakura had always had trouble with the sun, but he'd managed for most of the day, and had been the fourth last to give up and go home. Because of his trouble with the sun, he often had to stay indoors and help with the woman's work, but whenever the men would take the boy's thieving, Bakura was always singled out for his skill. His father said he was made for the night, a true thief. Dispite his light hair he was never seen in the dark, it was as if the shadows themselves sought to protect him._

_Watching the merchant, Bakura waited until he turned his back before his hand shot out and grabbed one of the melons. Looking around cautiously, he moved quickly and shoved the melon into the side bag his mother had made him and walked as fast as he could without drawing attention to himself to the horse he'd borrowed from the village. He struggled up onto the horse, his eight year old frame giving him difficulty. He'd rode out of town quickly, eager to return home, the wind ripping the cloth off his head as he galloped over the desert sand._

_He'd been so happy to get the melon. The tomb robbers had spent a month in the sun, and Bakura was sure they'd appreciate the fruit after that long. They only had some dried meat and wheat left, but it would be enough for the welcome feast. He was almost to his village, the sun had made the clay flake out of his unprotected hair, but it was starting to set. Looking towards the village, he saw smoke wafting up from behind the dunes. The men were home! Bakura grinned happily; they'd already started the feast to welcome them. Urging the horse on, he reached the dune overlooking the village about ten minutes after the sun had finally set._

_He looked down on the village in horror._

_Flames were licking at the buildings and the whole village glowed red. He could hear screaming. Bakura swallowed. It was raiders! They sometimes attacked the village, but Kul Elna's reputation as a vicious village of thieves had helped shield them from attacks in recent years. Bakura climbed off the horse and quietly slide down the dune to the side of the village. Reaching it he shivered in horror, things were much too quiet. There was no more screaming._

_Gulping, he moved quietly through the village. He could see blood on the walls and streets. Everything smelt like smoke and blood. Where was everybody? How could there be so much blood and no bodies? Hiding in the shadows, he moved towards the sound of some quiet talking. He was in the middle of the village, in what was once the village square. It was gone now; there was a huge tunnel there in its place. _

_Bakura stared in horror as some men came up from the tunnel. These were no raiders, these were Palace Guards! He watched in horror as the men spoke in hushed tones._

"_It'll be over soon, just remember the pharaoh." One was telling a younger guard._

"_It's just," the younger man whispered, "Why do they have to be _alive_?" _

"_Master Akhenaden said it must be done with living sacrifices, it cannot be avoided."_

"_I know." The man gulped._

_The man suddenly started dry reaching and coughing before taking a deep breath and heading back down the tunnel with the other guards. Bakura followed them; he felt numb and didn't care about anything as he walked down the tunnel stairway. Reaching the bottom, he hid behind a wall and looked around._

_He saw the villagers chained in a corner; the men were all knocked unconscious, as were some of the women. The children were gone from sight; Bakura couldn't see any of his friends or siblings. The conscious woman were crying or looking blankly at nothing, as if they'd lost all their will. Bakura's eyes finally adjusted to see the rest of the cavern, he could see guards dragging the unconscious men, their faces and bodies caked in blood, but still making choked breathing noises._

_They dragged the bodies towards a huge cauldron in the middle of the underground chamber a golden glow emitted from the top. Bakura's eyes widened in horror, one of the unconscious bodies was still moving slightly, its eyes half open. It choked and blood spat out of its mouth. Bakura looked in horror as the body was lifted over the cauldron, the golden glow from inside illuminated the face for a moment and Bakura froze numbly as he realised it was his father. He was dropped in the cauldron, and as he hit it a scream shot out and echoed through the chamber. The guards froze up for a moment, looking at the cauldron in horror. _

"_Don't stop!" a man with a beard yelled, "This is for the pharaoh, these are his orders!" _

_The guards shivered a moment, looking at the cauldron, before they continued dropping in the bodies. Most were unconscious, the guards had taken to knocking everyone over the head an extra time to try and prevent what had just happened occurring again, but a few others screamed when they hit the gold liquid. Bakura watched it all. He couldn't move, he knew this couldn't be real. This was just a nightmare; why would the pharaoh do this? This couldn't happen._

_Bakura watched as the last body was dropped into the cauldron._

"_That's enough men!" The bearded man yelled, "We have all we need now, pour the gold!"_

_The men heaved at ropes and tipped the huge cauldron. Gold flowed out thickly into a huge rock. The bearded man nodded and moved towards the stairway and out the chamber._

"_Leave it to cool! I'll be back soon." The man yelled again._

_The guards stood to attention until the man was out of sight. Most of the guards followed the man, out of the chamber but a few stayed behind. They were talking among one another in hushed tones. Bakura finally moved. He couldn't feel anything anymore, but he walked towards the men in silence anyway. He wanted to die with his family; he wanted them to kill him. One guard noticed him and yelled out. Spinning around, a guard drew his sword and swung it at Bakura. It hit him in the face and Bakura fell to the ground, he could feel the pain fill him. He could feel the pain of his family. He could hear them calling for revenge!_

"_Ra! I thought it was a ghost when I saw it there," The guard who'd yelled murmured, "It's only a kid. I've never seen a kid with hair like that before though."_

_One of The other guards moved towards him, "We should kill it now, it doesn't look human. Who knows what darkness this ritual has unleashed?" _

_But another grabbed his arm; it was the young guard from before, "No, leave him. We have all the sacrifices we needed, let's not add a pointless murder to our conscience as well." He said, his eyes looking haunted and regretful at the small boy._

_The man walked over and kicked Bakura into a shadowed corner, "Stay here kid, if master Akhenaden sees you, I doubt he'll let you escape alive. The others had to die for the pharaoh, if you just shut up, you won't have to." _

_Clutching his face Bakura opened his eye, blood had dripped into it and all he could see was red. He felt his anger grow inside; he could feel it paralyze him in rage. He wanted to kill them all. Every _egas(2) _one of them. These guards should suffer like his family had! He knew he was too small to do it yet, but he would_ live_, and kill the man who had destroyed his family! He would kill the pharaoh!_

_When the bearded man returned with some priests, he ordered the guards out. Bakura didn't notice. He didn't notice when the giant slab of rock was broken, but he noticed the gold they pulled out of it. He shook in rage. That was his family! Those objects were his people! They should die for this! They should die! He heard screams as the ground started to shake. The ground ripped apart and the several men fell into the cracks screaming in terror. Bakura watched from the dark as he saw the key to his revenge rise from the Shadows…_

...Ryou wrenched his eye open. Blood filled his vision and buzzing filled his ears, the men had stopped yelling at each other and the woman was looking at him with a repulsed look, a short wand hanging limply in her hand.

"Behau!(3)" He growled in rage, he saw them yelling, but couldn't hear the words, blood rushed in his ears blocking off all outside noise. He dove at the man who'd sent the cutting hex, the Shadows closing in around the room – Cutting off any possibility of them escaping. These people wouldn't be leaving alive.

Moving quickly, he grabbed the man's wand and snapped it in one hand. Pulling the man down as he lunged at Ryou in rage, Ryou gripped the handle of his knife hard and he dug his knife deep into the man's neck; warm blood flowed over his hand sickly as the man gurgled. Blood sprayed over Ryou's hair and face. In his rage, Ryou stabbed the man again as he snarled, the man dropped to the ground, and already Ryou was moving again, the other two were shooting spells at him, and he'd wasn't going to be caught by one.

"Dark Necrofear!" he snarled, pulling the card from his pocket.

Necrofear swooped down on the woman from the Shadows. Focusing her nightmare gaze at her, the pink lady's eyes grew wide in horror, pulling her chin into her neck in a very toad-like way before she finally fell to the ground screaming, hands clawing at her face. Wand rolling away pointlessly.

"Man-Eater Bug!" He summoned again, his eyes flashing at the remaining man, who was staring in horror at Necrofear.

The insect appeared behind the last man without him even noticing, as was expected of the effect monster. The man didn't even have time to scream as Man-Eater Bug ripped him apart, blood splattering Ryou and the Shadowed walls.

Looking around, Ryou saw the squat woman lying still, blood oozing from her eyes, face twisted in a horrific gaze. He gave the body an angry kick before looking up, eyes hard. Shadow monsters were showing up all around, watching from the darkness, Attracted by the smell of blood.

Ryou nodded at them, "Go ahead and take them." He motioned monotonously, "You guys deserve a bite."

With that, the monsters dove forward, ripping at the lifeless bodies while Ryou faded from the Shadow Realm and back into his room.

Looking around his small room, Ryou saw no trace of the fight, other than a few drops of blood from when he'd been cut. It seemed the mess had been left in the Shadows. His anger had faded and he sighed in relief, he sat down on his bed. He'd have to leave now; he knew more people would be coming. He'd have to go after Gringotts another time; the object would probably be in the safe by then anyway.

Pulling his hand through his hair, he noticed it was sticky. Getting up, he moved into the bathroom to reach the mirror.

"Good Heavens…" The mirror whispered at him in horror.

Numbly, he saw he was still covered in blood. His hair was clumped together, held into messy masses by drying blood. His face had flaking red streaks where blood had dried, as well as still wet clots that glistened on his face. An angry red cut ran down his left cheek; his blood mingling with the blood of the men.

His clothes were drenched in the stuff. He pulled off his cloak in horror. It made a squelching noise as it hit the wooden floor, blood oozing out of it. He started shaking in horror as it finally hit him. He'd killed those people! They'd just been doing their job and he'd killed them! They didn't deserve that! No one deserved what he'd just done to the ministry officials.

Yugi was right, He realised in numb horror; Ryou couldn't keep the new additions to his personality under control. He wasn't strong enough. The Thief King was affecting him too deeply, not just now – but in everything! He was stealing just for the thrill of it; even planning to break into a bank for fun just to make a very powerful man angry!

Sitting down heavily on the bathroom floor, Ryou noticed a copy of the Daily Prophet lying on the floor. It was yesterday's copy, the one he'd picked up at the bar. He'd probably left it on the sink before showering yesterday and it got knocked off. He stared at the moving picture of Harry Potter before he focused in on something; looking at the date on the paper he realized something. Today was September first, that meant…

"It's my birthday tomorrow." He said, before bursting into tears which washed streaks in the blood and stung his cut cheek.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry this took longer than I expected it, and it's not even long. I had a procedure on my wrist last week, so it's rather painful to write at the moment. So instead of writing I went shopping for cosplay supplies. I'm busy making a Thief King Bakura and a Marik cosplay at the moment, Also got myself some white hair toner! Woot! Another reason/excuse is that I ran out of my ADD medication, so my focus isn't at its best. ^^'

Anyway, I'm sorry about the length and all. I doubt it'll improve for a while. Also, sorry for the jump in this chapter. Hopefully I was able to explain what happened without too much confusion.

1) Seba: Ancient Egyptian word meaning devil or demon.

2) Eges: Ancient Egyptian word meaning vile or wretched.

3) Behau: Ancient Egyptian word meaning coward.


	7. Chapter 7: DJET DJU

**_Title: Shadow Balance_**

**_Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU_**

**_Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber._**

**_Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past._**

**_Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world._**

**_._**

**_._**

* * *

CHAPTER SEVEN: DJET DJU

.

.

Ryou was leaving.

He was going away from the wizarding world. None of the stuff happening here was his problem! He wasn't Yugi, who felt the need to save the world at every opportunity. None of this was _his_ to worry about.

He wasn't one of these wizards, he didn't have any reason to get involved in the first place; he was a Shadow Mage! He shouldn't have messed with things that didn't involve him. He should have left the moment he realised this magic wasn't involved with the Shadows in any way.

Ryou had scrubbed himself clean in the shower, washing his hair over and over. The blood had dried hard and made it difficult to get out, and the metallic smell wouldn't leave until several washes after. He'd then turned the bathroom upside down looking for a band-aid and disinfectant for his cut face.

His cheek had swollen since the fight and Ryou had panicked at the thought of strange wizard blood born infections that he didn't know of, that could cause who knows what! He'd calmed down eventually, and had found a small bottle of something called Essence of Murtlap under the sink which claimed to be for soothing and healing cuts and other wounds. He'd dabbed it on his face gingerly, and was amazed to feel the swelling go down. Looking in the mirror, he saw the cut looked days old now, and had scabbed over. He felt slightly better about that, and put the Murtlap away where he'd found it.

He also found a spray bottle of Magical Mess Remover, which he'd sprayed on the blood that had dripped from his cloak all over the floor and where he'd sat on the bed. The blood had vanished easily from the sheets, and the bloody foot prints he'd left leading to the bathroom lifted off easily.

There was still a stain on the wooden floor where he'd dropped the cloak that he couldn't get rid of though. He'd emptied half the spray-bottle on the stain, but a dark patch still remained much to his frustration. He'd started shaking uncontrollably the whole time he'd been scrubbing in the bathroom. The mirror had remained quiet. Ryou didn't feel particularly comfortable with that, considering how talkative it had been when he'd arrived. The idea of even the animated inanimate object being scared of him made him feel like a monster.

He'd burned the cloak, and the other clothes he'd been wearing in the room's fireplace. There was no way he'd wear them again, even if they weren't ruined. It wasn't like he'd need the cloak anymore anyway; he wasn't planning on ever returning to the wizarding world.

After he'd packed all his things – he'd sent any magical things he'd bought or stolen to the Shadows, he gave the room a final look over. The only thing that remained was the dark patch in the bathroom, and a few small scraps in the fireplace, but he couldn't do anything more about that. He sighed and locked the room before walking down to the pub area of the Leaky Cauldron. Walking up to the bar, he shoved the key to his room at the barman with little courtesy. He still felt sick, and was having trouble controlling some of his movements.

"I'm leaving." He said shortly to the man, before walking out the Muggle side of the pub and into the streets of London.

Ryou was going to do what he'd planned to do originally. He was going to do what he came to this country to do.

Walking out to a main street, Ryou signalled a taxi. He asked the driver to take him to the Hospital near Surrey.

It was time to see if Greg Anderson and Andy Smith were okay. He knew the people who'd been trapped in Monster World back in Japan had been returned to their bodies, it was time to make sure the people in Brittan were okay. He couldn't put it off any longer. If they weren't okay, he could at least try to set it right and if they were, he would have one less thing to worry about.

The ride was long, and Ryou ignored the driver's attempts to make conversation.

He'd just _murdered_ three humans. Ryou felt disgusted with himself. Sure, he knew the Tomb Robber had killed people, he even remembered some of it. But he'd never actually _felt_ it.

He shivered and looked out the window as London sped away from him, eyes filling with tears.

.

* * *

.

"Bakura has the Horcrux." Harry said looking at his friends in horror.

They were standing in the kitchen, Kreacher had taken Mundungus back to where he'd come from and was now bustling around the kitchen making lunch for the teens.

"What are we going to do?" Ron asked.

"We'll have to find him." Harry said, "Mundungus said he was hanging around Diagon Alley."

"We can't just walk into Diagon Alley!" Hermione cried out.

"We don't have much of a choice, do we?" Ron said bitterly.

"Look! We have to be clever about this," she said, "One of us should take the invisibility cloak and go check it out, if he's still there and if it even _is_ Bakura who took the Horcrux we can then use the information gathered. We can then use some of the Polyjuice Potion and go after him if we have to."

"I'll go." Harry immediately volunteered.

The others looked uncertain, "Harry -" Hermione started.

"It's not like I'm going to be breaking into the ministry guys, I'm just scouting out information."

Looking resigned, she said, "Alright, we'll take turns scouting it out and try to gather where he is and how we'll get to locket."

.

* * *

.

Pulling up at the hospital, Ryou paid the taxi fare and as the vehicle pulled away, he stared at the building in front of him.

After a few minutes he started moving again. He walked up the hospital steps and into the air-conditioned reception area. Looking around, he quickly noticed the information centre.

"Pardon me," he said to the lady on the other side, "Do you know if Greg Anderson and Andy Smithson are still here?"

"Just a moment dear, I'll check." The woman said, smiling at the sweet looking boy before her.

"Hmm… They're in building two, the long term ward. Both of them are in room twenty-seven."

"Thank you." Ryou said.

"You should get that cut looked at dear, you wouldn't want it to scar." The lady said, peering at his face.

"Oh, um, s-sure." Ryou said, touching the scabbing cut self-consciously.

Walking away, Ryou felt like crying again. The two hadn't woken up when the people in Japan had then. Blinking away tears at the lives they'd lost in ten years, Ryou walked to where they were staying.

The room they were in was quiet, Just the hum of machines in the background. Ryou looked at the still bodies on the beds.

"I'm so sorry," Ryou whispered, "I never wanted this to happen."

Ryou paused quietly as he remembered what had happened.

"_Hey Ghost boy!" _

_Eight year old Ryou looked up from his book and saw Greg and Andy run towards him._

"_Ye-yes?" the small boy squeaked, stuffing his book away in case the two decided to flush it down the toilet again. His mother had given it to him for his birthday; it was an encyclopaedia of urban legends and myths._

"_We heard your mom bought you the new Monster World role playing game. The whole board!"_

"_Ye-yes, but it's also my sister Amane's." _

"_What ever." The boy shrugged, "What Greg and me want to ask you, since we're _friends and all,_ is can we come over and play it after school?"_

_Ryou looked at them in surprise, he didn't know they considered him a friend! And they wanted to play Monster World! The only person he'd been able to play against so far had been his little sister. No one else at school liked him much, and his sister's friends weren't into Monster World like the siblings were._

_Smiling at the two larger boys, Ryou nodded, "S-sure!"_

_The two larger boys grinned at him, "Cool, see you then Ghost boy."_

_Ryou got home quickly, wanting to set the board up before his friends arrived. It didn't occur to the naïve boy that they were just using him, but it did occur to someone else._

"_Ryou, you can't trust those boys!" his sister Amane scolded. She was a year younger than him, but she knew Ryou was easily taken advantage of through experience._

"_Remember when they gave you bruise on your stomach? And the time they laughed at the Egyptian Ring thingy father sent you?"_

_Ryou remembered. He'd taken the Ring to school only once. He hadn't worn it, but he wanted to show everyone the gift during show-and-tell. Andy and Greg had laughed at him, calling it jewellery and telling him he was a girl for liking it. It had hurt more than any bruise._

_After school Ryou had locked himself in his room and cried until Amane managed to entice him out with a game of Monster World._

"_Mother and me won't even be here tonight," Amane said, "The moment mother gets home from work I have my Ballet lesson."__  
_

"_I'll be fine, they're my friends." Ryou smiled. The word made him feel so happy._

_After Amane had left with Mother, Ryou went to his room for awhile, waiting for the boys to arrive. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he looked at the Ring lying on his bedside table. _

_It was very nice-looking._

_Picking it up, Ryou looked at it. The hoop at the top looked like it was supposed to be hung on something. Maybe it was a dream catcher; it did kind of look like one._

_Getting up, Ryou walked to Amane's room. Digging through the seven year olds art supplies, Ryou found a long, thin brown strip of leather. Slipping it through the hoop, he twisted it around a few times before tying a knot at the end._

_For a moment Ryou just stared at it. The boys had said it looked like jewellery, maybe it was. Turning it over in his small hands, Ryou slipped the leather strip over his head, he felt a bit silly, thinking about the two boys who'd be coming over soon. But he didn't take it off._

"_I hope they'll stay my friends forever. I wish they'd never leave." Ryou sighed wistfully, looking at the ring had reminded him how mean they had been. He didn't want them to go back to that._

"_I can grant that wish, landlord." A cold voice spoke._

_Looking around and seeing no one, Ryou whispered, "Who's there?"_

"_I'm you." It said, "The part of you that will grant your wish, which can make your darkest desire a reality."_

_Ryou didn't remember much of what happened next. He remembered waking up around the Monster World board with Andy and Greg flopped over the table. When Mother and Amane got home he was in tears; the boys wouldn't wake up!_

_His mother had sent him and Amane to their rooms while she called an ambulance and the boys parents. _

_Sitting alone in his room, the voice spoke again, "Do you like your new dolls, landlord?"_

"_W-what?" Ryou sniffed._

"_The models I made, don't they look just like them?"_

_Looking down at his hand he noticed for the first time he was holding two Monster World figurines. The faces were that of Andy and Greg._

_Ryou gasped._

"_Now they'll be with you forever." the voice laughed._

"_No! Put them back!" Ryou cried, "Make it better!"_

_Ryou was on his feet, tears flowing from his eyes._

"_I don't want this!"_

_There was no response for a while; the only sound was Ryou's sobs._

"_Well then," the voice said, "if this is how you're going to be if I help you, you can just _forget_!"_

_The Ring started to glow, and Ryou yelped in shock trying to pull it off. Almost immediately, however, he stopped moving. Suddenly, Ryou sat back down on his bed, thinking about his two friends. _

_All memory of the voice gone, but the result still remained. _

_The Ring still hung around his neck. That was where it would stay for years to come._

_Two figurines lay momentarily forgotten on the floor…_

He didn't remember the voice until years later, when he moved to Domino and the Ring reacted to Yugi's Puzzle. That day, in which the Ring dug itself into Ryou's skin and the spirit finally showed himself to the world and Ryou once more.

Ryou sighed, blinking away tears. He pulled his backpack off and unzipped it. He carefully removed two small Character Cases and opened them; pulling out the two figurines he looked at them.

"I'm sorry for all I've caused you to lose. You weren't the best people in the world, but you were young. I've forgiven you for all you ever did, please do same for me" He whispered to the dolls.

Moving towards the beds, he held out the dolls and whispered, "Soul Release."

The dolls glowed white and dulled in his hands. Putting the dolls away again, he heard the two people on the bed stirring. Moving quickly, Ryou pulled his bag on and marched out the door.

He'd done what he could, he couldn't help them get back the life they missed, but at least now they'd had a life.

As Ryou strode down the corridor, he heard a nurse cry out in shock as she entered the formerly comatose boys' room.

As he left the ward he turned into the toilets. Locking himself in a stall, he leaned against the wall and cried, at long last letting out the pain he felt.

"Happy Birthday to me…"

* * *

A/N: Yes it's short, I'm sorry. It's also not as well written as I would have liked either, but I thought I might as well update.

A/N2: 25/06/13 did some minor editing.


	8. Chapter 8:UDJE MEDU : EB

Title: Shadow Balance

Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past. 

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world.

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHT: UDJE MEDU: EB

Harry found out enough about what he needed on his first visit to the Alley under the cloak. He'd Apperated into a small alley around the corner from the Leaky Cauldron, checked that the cloak still covered him completely, before walking into the inn.

It turned out that he'd missed Bakura by less than an hour when he arrived at the Leaky Cauldron to find Tom the barman in an uproar.

"…Just left like that!" He was telling a ministry Auror, "Moments after that Commission lady and her guards went up."

"So what you're saying is the Muggle-born got away?" The official asked, he sounded quite nasty.

"That's what I said," Tom said, scowling at the mans sneer, "I went upstairs to tell the lady he'd left, after he came down stairs, but I couldn't find her or her men."

"Do you have any idea what happened to Dolores Umbridge?" the man asked.

Umbridge? Harry froze in horror, the scars on his hand tingling. He moved in closer, although it was hardly necessary – Tom was being quite loud.

"It's the strangest thing!" he said, "I went to check the albino boy's room – he never did give a name by the way – it was clean as anything, despite cleaning not having been up yet. I checked the bathroom while I was there, and the first thing I noticed was this dark stain on the floor seemed a bit odd, since everything else was so clean, didn't worry about it at first though, people spill things all the time, but then I noticed some burnt clothing remains in the fire place."

Tom paused to catch his breath before continuing. Harry's ears had perked up with the mention of an albino boy. He would have moved closer, but the bar regulars were tightly packed around Tom and the Auror. Harry didn't want to bump into someone and give the game away.

"I went to the mirror next, to ask what'd happened," Tom said, his voice growing quiet, Tom paused for effect, "The mirror said he was covered in blood, dripping in the stuff! A huge gash across his face too; as if he'd been in a brawl. I ran down the stairs to see if I could still spot the guy, but he'd vanished into Muggle London. Since the officials still hadn't been found I flooed the Auror office, sir. Thought it would be for the best." He finished.i

Harry listened numbly as mental images of the white haired boy covered in blood probed his mind. It seems Ron was right; this guy was dangerous. It seemed strange that Umbridge would just vanish into thin air, not that Harry couldn't help feeling somewhat justified at her supposed death. Unfortunately that meant Bakura was gone from the wizarding world, and running around with a Horcrux.

Harry left while the Auror took statements from regulars in the bar who were crowding around him, most of them had seen the guy; no one knew his name or anything about him though, except that he'd showed up and left in Muggle clothes.

Harry Apperated back to Grimmauld Place and told the other's the news. While they weren't particularly sad about the disappearance and possible death of Umbridge, they were still horrified at the idea of Bakura being _that_ dangerous and unstable. Harry did point out that it sounded like Bakura had been injured, and even Ron agreed that he could have been provoked, but they agreed to be careful anyway. They didn't have enough information to make any big assumptions about Bakura yet.

They wouldn't be able to trace Bakura easily they'd established, not while he was in the Muggle world, but Hermione said she would try and track him down using Muggle means. So for the next few months they decided to focus on finding the other Horcruxes, for the most part, while Hermione checked different regional phonebooks and took a few trips to the Muggle library under the cloak or in a disguise.

They also decided on regular visits to the wizarding world to try and scout out information. They decided against contacting any of their friends or family, but Harry knew that whenever Ron's turn to scout came around, he would make a point of watching the twins shop from under the cloak. Harry knew Ron did this, even though he never mentioned it; mainly because he did it too.

While keeping an eye on the Alley, they also made note to listen for any news of Bakura's return or capture.

* * *

Ryou continued travelling around Brittan for the next few months, staying in hotels and visiting hospitals.

He soon found out that only the older victims were still in comas; the ones that had occurred just before he moved to Japan had all come out of it when Yugi had tried to release the souls back in Domino.

It was a relief, but it also saddened Ryou. It meant that the first ones had lost so much more. He didn't visit any of the recovered people; he didn't want to face their anger and resentment. He didn't want to bare the emotional strain, and he hoped for the most part that they had forgotten about him. The others, the unlucky children who'd lain still for up to a decade; he left before they could react to his presence after freeing their souls.

During this time he used no Shadow magic other than that required to awake his old friends, and he stole nothing; choosing instead to use the money he'd already collected as well as his funds he'd brought with him from Japan and his English bank account.

But it was over now; he'd made sure that everyone was okay.

He wasn't going back to Japan yet though. There was one more place he wanted to visit. He was going to Godric's Hollow. The last house he'd lived in before his mother and Amane had died in a car crash.

Arriving at Godric's Hollow Ryou, paid the taxi fare and looking around to get his bearings in the familiar village, he walked past the old war memorial towards where his house was, next to the old graveyard.

As he passed the monument, it changed. Ryou ignored it; he'd seen it before while living here as a child. The rest of his family hadn't, although Amane would often pout about this. At the time Ryou just assumed it was one of his many oddities, and had avoided it and the strange ruin the street over. Now, he was just so used to it that he didn't even bother making the connection to the magical world as he passed it.

Arriving outside the picturesque house, Ryou pulled the house key out from under a rock in the garden. His father hadn't had much of a mind for security, even now; with him leaving the house unattended for months at a time. Unlocking the door Ryou walked upstairs to his old room, dropping his bag on the bed he looked around. It was identical to when he'd left, his father hadn't changed anything. Walking down the hall he paused outside Amane's room. Opening the door, he saw the same room he'd always seen in his mind when remembering his sister. Closing the door again he returned to his room, walking into his memories.

_They'd been on their way to pick father up from the airport, well; mother and Amane were. Ryou had stayed home; he knew his mother found it awkward to be around him because of the various times they'd moved on his account; and he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable on the car ride to the airport. Amane had stuck by him though, even if she did say he could be scary at times. She was the only one he confided in._

_Father didn't like him much these days, so it would only upset him if Ryou went with mother and Amane to meet him as well. Father had lost so much money moving houses so often. He'd started spending more and more time on digs and at the museum in Japan doing paperwork to try and earn enough to keep his family afloat._

_It would be the first time he was home in almost a year._

_Ryou had waited at home for them to return. He was looking forward to seeing his father; Ryou loved him despite his absence. _

_Plus, things always felt better when his whole family was around. It was awkward, especially around him, but he always _remembered_ it. He never had blackouts when they were all together. They made him feel safe._

_He'd been waiting for three hours when he started getting worried. It took an hour to get to the airport, and an hour back. Maybe they'd stopped over to get a pizza or something? He'd thought. _

_It was an hour later when he got a phone call from the hospital asking for his father. He'd told the man his father was getting picked up from the airport. He'd asked what was wrong. The man didn't tell him._

_It was past midnight when the phone rang again. Ryou was wide awake at the time, looking out the window, waiting for the car to drive up. Picking up the phone he heard noise and then a voice spoke, it was his father._

"_Ryou, there was an accident…" He heard._

_As Ryou listened to his father he felt his hearing start to buzz. Amane was dead on impact, his mother was still hanging on. For how long, or if she would make it; it wasn't known._

_Ryou dropped the phone and next thing he knew a week had passed with no memory._

_He later found out his father hadn't been home once in that time, he'd been at his wife's side until the end._

_Things had moved quickly after that; his father had arranged things so that Ryou would be sent to his grandmother in Japan. Apparently he wouldn't have time to take care of Ryou with his work. _

_Mother and Amane were buried in the old graveyard in Godric's Hollow, just next to their house. Ryou only saw their graves once before he left._

_As Ryou boarded the plane alone on his eleventh birthday, he didn't cry, and on the flight to the other side of the world he pulled out some paper and started to write;  
_

_Dear Amane,_

_How's my little sister? I'm sorry I won't be able to visit you, but I'm going to be living with Oba-Chan in Japan. I'm kind of worried; we didn't speak much Japanese while we were living in England, and I remember mother would always giggle when we tried. Remember how she said we sounded like 'Kawai gaijin'? _

_I hope I don't make an idiot of myself; Oba-Chan doesn't know any English according to dad, so it'll be up to me to communicate._

_I'll write again soon,_

_Love,_

_Your big brother, Ryou.  
_

_From that day onwards, when ever anything good or bad happened, he would write to his sister to tell her news of her brother. He saved every letter he wrote in a box under his bed, writing in English in case his grandmother found them._

_When his grandmother had died, Ryou's father had sent him money to rent an apartment. Ryou was worried by that because by himself, he was remembering less and less, but when he'd wake up with soulless bodies around his Monster World table he would know it was time to move again._

_At one point, a police enquiry had even forced him to stay in Egypt with his father until things were cleared up. He remembered that; he'd met a few of father's colleagues, but he'd been told to avoid talking about why he was there to them. He'd spent most of the time in his father's tent reading, although he did see a few kids his age, his father told him to avoid them. Ryou didn't need telling, he didn't want anything to happen to them because of him._

_So it continued, until he arrived in Domino…_

* * *

A/N: As usual I must apologise for the length. Studies have caught up with me due to my neglect of them. ' Other than that, I made myself a Millennium Ring and eye! YAY! I also made Marik style earrings.

(i) Tom isn't anti-muggleborn or anything. Just think of things from his position; the situation is one in which you'd contact the police. Even with Voldemort etc. Controlling the ministry, there still needs to be a working public defense to an extent.


	9. Chapter 9: URD

Title: Shadow Balance

Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past. 

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world.

WARNING: SOME VIOLENCE IN THIS CHAPTER

* * *

CHAPTER NINE: URD – WEARY

Ryou had been staying in Godric's Hollow for several weeks now, for the most part he stayed at home, cleaning the unused house or arranging his Duel Monster's deck. Everyday however, he would walk to the graveyard next-door and sit by his little sister's grave.

He told her everything that had been happening, from the big things to the small. It was different to writing letters; he couldn't pretend she was still alive while sitting next to her grave. But he still found that he felt better talking to her none the less.

His first few days in the village had been quiet, until one day while walking from the super market, a bag of groceries in his arms, he heard a voice.

"Ryou Bakura?"

Startled, and almost dropping his bag, Ryou turned around and saw a tiny old lady.

"Ryou, is that you?" She said, hobbling towards him.

"Granny Bagshot?" he said in surprise, recognizing the eccentric old lady. The old lady, who'd lived around the block to him years before, looked almost identical to how he remembered her. She was tiny, her face sagging under the weight of her wrinkles, her eccentric clothing covering her in layers.

The kids in the neighbourhood had always called her Granny Batty or Batty Bagshot, but Ryou had never found himself capable of calling her names with the other children, even if she did often talk about the strangest things at times and have the strangest house. He just couldn't be mean to a poor old lady.

"It is you! Do you remember me? I used to come for tea with your mother when the dear was still around." She said loudly.

"Granny Bagshot?" He said again, "You're still alive?" he blurted out, before covering his mouth with one hand and blushing.

The old lady laughed, "Now, I may almost be two-hundred but there's no call for that!" the bent old woman smiled.

"Sorry." Ryou said, lowering his head.

"Don't worry dear! How have you been? You haven't been here since the funeral, are you here with your father?" She asked.

Ryou shook his head, "No, he's in Egypt."

"Well, you must come over! I can't have you being all alone with no one to talk to. Why don't you come over for tea this evening?"

"Um, sure. I'd love to!" Ryou smiled.

"Lovely!" The old woman said, "I'll just go tidy up the house a bit before you come over, is five alright?"

"Oh, yes." Ryou said, "Do you need any help cleaning? I don't mind helping."

"No, no dear," She said quickly, "I can manage that much by myself, don't worry yourself about it."

With that, the old lady gave Ryou a small goodbye before heading home. Ryou returned home as well, wondering if he should bring something for the old woman. In the end, he ran down to the shops for the second time that day and bought a small cake to take with to tea.

He arrived at her house a few minutes early, and was welcomed in by the old woman. Her house felt the same as it had been when he was young, piles of old books formed pillars down the corridor and in the rooms, their titles and most of their covers obscured from view. There were no photos on the walls, and the only paintings were still life. There were a few piles of newspapers, but they were neatly secured under the books or tables.

"I brought this." Ryou said to the old woman, handing the cake to her.

"Lovely!" The old woman smiled, "Why don't we go into the kitchen then?"

Following her into the kitchen while making small talk was nice, Ryou realised this was the first real conversation he'd had in almost three months.

"So dear, what brings you to the Hollow?" Granny Bagshot said, pouring him a cup of tea and passing him a slice of the cake he'd brought.

"I wanted to visit Amane and Mother." Ryou said softly.

The old lady nodded in understanding, "I understand. I remember when they passed away. Your father called me to check up on you while he was at the hospital."

This was news to Ryou, who still couldn't remember that week, "He did?"

"Oh yes, I came around to your house every morning that week. You wouldn't let me in the house though. Gave me quite a surprise with the expression you gave me every time I came by, though."

Ryou flushed and quickly apologised.

"Nothing to apologise for dear; you were only ten weren't you? And grief can cause unfortunate reactions." The old lady sighed, "I remember there was an incident many years back involving my great-nephew's best friend Albus at the time. He's little sister was killed in an unfortunate accident, but his younger brother blamed him. Poor boy ended up breaking poor Albus's nose in the middle of the funeral."

Ryou listened to the old woman talk, not knowing who the people she spoke of were he did find the things some what boring, but at the same time it was comforting to hear the familiar old woman dither on about things and people he didn't know. It reminded him of when Granny Bagshot would come visit his mother and they would talk while he and Amane would eat cake or play in the kitchen.

It was nice, and Ryou enjoyed the evening with her.

Since then, Granny Bagshot had insisted Ryou come over _every_ evening for tea, much like how his mother had visited the old lady and Granny Bagshot had visited his mother, when she was around.

And in the mornings the old lady would show up with some baking, - which varied in quality - or a story about someone she'd met at the super market or about her great-nephew and his best friend – both of whom were apparently dead now.

Ryou didn't mind, and found the old lady's presence relaxing in its familiarity.

"It's Christmas next week," she said one day, while sitting in Ryou's kitchen sipping tea.

Ryou looked surprised, "It is? Time has flown hasn't it," he mussed.

"Some of the ladies in the village are holding a little get together at the church, I'm sure they'd be delighted if you could join us."

"Thank you, I'd be honoured." Ryou smiled. He hadn't met many people around the village yet, he hadn't even explored anywhere other than the graveyard, his street and the small circle of shops.

The next day however, Granny Bagshot didn't come to visit in the morning. He wasn't too concerned at this, since she didn't always come over early. By early afternoon however, he was worried. Normally he would have seen her walking around by now at least.

She is very old…

Pulling on a jacket, he walked out of his house and walked down the street to her house where he knocked on the door.

There was no answer.

He pushed the door open and walked inside. Things looked surprisingly different to how the house normally looked when he visited. There were dusty photo frames on the mantel, and there seemed to be more movement out of the corner of his eye than usual. It wasn't the time to worry about that though.

"Granny Bagshot?" He called out.

There was no answer.

Ryou felt panic start to rise as he looked around the house for her. Suddenly, he heard a small noise from the attic.

"Granny Bagshot?" he yelled, running up to the attic ladder and clambering up.

There, lying on the floor was the gagging figure of Granny Bagshot. Standing over her was… Granny Bagshot.

"Granny Bagshot?" he whispered.

The standing figure turned with grace unbecoming of the clumsy old lady. This wasn't Granny Bagshot. Ryou took a step backwards, staring into the creatures eyes.

"_Who are you_?" Ryou yelled.

The figure turned its head, as if not fully understanding before whispering, "_How do you ssspeak_?"

"_What are you talking about? What did you do to her_?" He yelled again.

Not answering, the doppelganger dove at him, skin falling off of it as it attacked, revealing a giant snake.

"_You ssspeak! Massster sssaid to kill the other ssspeaker!"_ Ryou heard the serpent scream.

Moving to the side, Ryou dodged the snake as it flew heavily out of the crumpling human form. A giant talking snake! Ryou realised in horror.

Swearing at himself, he realized now it'd been dumb to leave his knife at home. Nowhere was ever safe, not when it came to his luck. Looking around the room for some kind of weapon, Ryou caught a glance at the old lady and his breath caught in his throat.

She was breathing irregularly and blood was dripping out the corner of her mouth. She didn't look like she had long. Ryou considered summoning the Shadows; he could see that she wouldn't survive in them in her condition.

He'd have to use his own Ka, Diabound to fight. First things first though…

Throwing a small box of books at the snake as it moved to strike him, hitting it in the head and causing it to swerve away; he pulled his deck out quickly pulled the card he needed.

"Dian Keto the Cure Master!" He summoned the spell creature.

A kindly green haired figure appeared, and moved towards Mrs. Bagshot, hands glowing. Ryou felt drained, he hadn't used magic in a long time now and using his own body's energy to help sustain the spell rather than the Shadow Realm was painful.

The snake twitched, startled by the presence of another person. Ryou used the opportunity to call out again.

"Diabound!"

Dropping the energy to Dian Keto to summon his Ka, the spell vanished. Mrs. Bagshot was breathing easier but she was far from better. Ryou knew he had to take care of the snake first now that she was out of critical condition though, if the snake killed him he wouldn't be able to save anyone.

"Diabound, attack!" he called as he rolled to the side as the snake dove yet again.

His Ka moved out of the air and its own snake like tail ripped at the attacking serpent. Blood sprayed out the bite on the snake's side.

It hissed and dove at the Ka madly, fangs clamping down on Diabound's arm.

Ryou gasped in pain, and clutched his own arm. He could feel venom in his system from where Diabound was attacked. Diabound had to hurry; he would die if his Ka was defeated at this rate.

Realising this, Diabound quickly brought its other arm around and pulled at the snake, which refused to let go. Diabound gave a low noise, and tightened its grip on the snake, and jerked it with amazing force, ripping it in half. Its head still clamped on its arm, while Diabound dropped the slowly writhing body.

Immediately, Ryou released his hold on the Ka and it vanished back to him, the snake head dropping to the ground, splashing in a puddle of the snake's own blood.

Dizzy and feeling as if he hadn't eaten in days, Ryou fell to the ground. The poison in his system burned, as if he was being dissolved from the inside out. Struggling to his knees, he summoned Dian Keto again and felt his strength return slightly as the spell monster healed him.

When the venom was finally out of his system, he dropped the spell again, unable to sustain it, he moved towards Mrs. Bagshot. Reaching her, he noticed how pale she was. Grabbing her arm he checked her pulse. It was slow, but there.

Fumbling, he pulled out Dain Keto and tried to summon the magic again. It didn't work. He was too exhausted. You couldn't replenish magic with magic. He realised he shouldn't have used Diabound to fight. If Diabound had been destroyed, Ryou would be dead now. That hadn't been clever.

It was too late now though.

In desperation, Ryou grabbed the old lady and shook her lightly. With a clatter, something rolled out her sleeve. Looking down Ryou's breath caught in his throat.

It was a wand.

Was Mrs. Bagshot a witch? It made sense, but Ryou didn't have time to worry about it. He grabbed the wand and tried calling out one of the few wizard spells he knew from his time in the alley.

"Aco phone!" He said, trying to remember the incantation, "Summon the phone already! Akito phone! Work, please; Accio phone!"

Hoping it would work, as he rattled off different variations, never having used a wand before, he was rewarded with a cordless phone zooming up the stairs. Grabbing it, he quickly dialled an ambulance and gave directions before looking back down at the old woman.

"Hang on…" he whispered to her.

The woman opened her eyes and looked at Ryou blearily, as if not recognising him.

"D…eath Eaters…" she choked out, before her eyes rolled back and she fell unconscious again.

"Just hang on…" Ryou said, eyes blazing with rage.

* * *

With the Golden Trio's constant visits to the wizarding world under the cloak, they were still no were near finding the Horcruxes. Hermione had given the boys several large books on Dark magic to study during this time, which covered a few aspects of Horcruxes. The reason being, even if they did find them, they had no idea how to destroy them.

They'd decided against contacting anyone they knew, not wanting them to suffer retaliation if it was discovered. From keeping an eye out in the Alley, however, they had seen several of the Weasley's at one point or another.

They'd been overjoyed to read in the Daily Prophet about how the disappearance and possible death of Umbridge had delayed the Muggle-born Registration, and as a result, many Muggle-borns had been able to flee the country, or find somewhere safe to hide before the organisation had gotten back on its feet. Of course, the Prophet didn't put it that way. The article had actually said;

"…_Several hundred 'Muggle-borns' have as of yet, not come forward for registration. As the general public is well aware, the investigation into whether these people have stolen their magical abilities from real witches and wizards, and their potential threat to our health and livelihood is currently underway within the Ministry of Magic._

_The postponement of the Muggle-born Registration Committee, was caused by, as is well known, the disappearance of Dolores Umbridge, who was the leader and organiser of said Committee. She was last seen with two other ministry members who were following up several leads in regards to Muggle-born locations a few months ago._

_It is believed that they were cruelly murdered by one of the people they were following up on, highlighting yet again how dangerous and animalistic these people, barely worthy of being called human, are._

_A list of the currently unregistered Muggle-borns and suspected Muggle-borns will be sent to all wizarding families early next week. Due to the length of the list, we are unable to reproduce it here. Remember; if you see any of the people on this list, please attempt to restrain them before contacting the Auror office or bringing them to one of the locations listed below…"  
_

They'd managed to get a hold of one of the lists, which was self-updating, and were relieved to find out just how many people had managed to escape thanks to the disorder at the ministry.

On the other hand, they had made very little progress on locating any Horcruxes. They were growing sick of it, and were snapping at one another constantly. One day, sick of just sitting around, Harry walked into the kitchen where Hermione was sitting with Ron.

"I want to go to Godric's Hollow." He said shortly, expecting reprisal for his words.

Surprisingly, Hermione nodded in agreement, "Yes I've been thinking about that."

"You have?" Harry blinked.

"Yes, it sounds like a possible location for a Horcrux. Plus," she grabbed a book from the table, "It's where Bathilda Bagshot lives." She was holding up her copy of A History of Magic.

"Didn't she know my parents and Dumbledore?" Harry asked, taking the book from her and flipping to the author's photo.

Hermione nodded, "I was thinking she might know something, what with her being a historian. I was thinking of looking up her address the Muggle way, since Godric's Hollow is a Muggle village for the most part. She should be listed there."

Taking a breath, she continued, "We'll have to use disguises. Voldemort will probably be watching the area. We still have Polyjuice Potion, if we get some Muggles' hairs we can sneak around with no problem."

Harry nodded, "Sounds like a plan."

He would have said more, but at that moment, his scar burned in agony, causing him to stifle a gasp.

Rushing out of the kitchen, he stumbled into the downstairs bathroom and locked the door. Collapsing against the door, he struggled to regulate his breathing. Images of masks and robes flashed in front of his eyes, none showing any real clarity. He hadn't had many visions lately, despite his neglect of Occlumency. Voldemort was actively blocking Harry himself.

Still, even without the visions, his scar would still hurt on and off; when ever Voldemort was feeling any strong emotion. He wished it would show him something useful though. All he could feel was anger.

Complete rage.

He faintly heard knocking on the door. He ignored it, focusing on Voldemort's anger. A sudden image flashed in his mind and he suddenly found himself seeing though Voldemort's eyes;

There was blood. Boxes full of old books. It looked like an old cluttered attic. A bloody tail of a snake lay still on the ground. The head was no where to be seen.

Nagini?

The anger wasn't leaving; it was growing at the sight of the beloved serpent dead and slain. How could she be killed? She was a Horcrux, a part of his soul!

Who ever had done it was gone, as was the old woman Nagini had gone after.

He felt his-Voldemort's wand raise and an angry whisper;

"Incendo."

Fire shot out of the wand and over the old dry boxes and books, catching light instantly. Voldemort stood still, watching the flames spread quickly towards the headless snake. The blood around the severed tail was still damp in spots, and caused the fire to hiss as it consumed Nagini.

Voldemort stiffened, and Harry jerked back physically. Voldemort had sensed Harry's invasion and had forced him back, blocking him entirely from his mind yet again.

Harry stared at the ground, breathing heavily. He could hear Hermione's frantic voice at the other side of the door. He opened his mouth to reply, but stopped before he even started. He couldn't trust his voice just yet. He slowed his breathing, and after a few minutes he felt up to replying.

"I'm okay guys." He said loudly.

There was a pause and some scuffling before he heard Ron say, "Harry! Open up mate, we need to talk to you."

Looking in the bathroom mirror, Harry checked his appearance before opening the door. His two friends stood in the door frame for a moment before pushing their way into the bathroom. Harry sat down on the edge of the old claw-footed bath and looked at them.

"What?" He asked.

Hermione looked at him in exasperation, "What?" she said, "What just happened, was it another vision from Voldemort?"

Harry nodded, "He was angry. Something killed Nagini."

They looked at him in silence for a moment, before Ron asked, "Wasn't – Wasn't Nagini a Horcrux?"

Harry nodded, he remembered being inside Voldemort's head moments ago. He'd confirmed that Nagini was a Horcrux in those few minutes he'd spent in the Dark Lords mind.

Hermione didn't look happy, "Harry, you are still keeping up with your Occlumency, aren't you?"

Harry shook his head, "Hermione, you know I'm no good at it. There's no point in it."

Harry wouldn't say it out loud, but often he was almost grateful for the connection. It had let him save Mr Weasley's life, and despite the pain, it gave him insight into his enemy's mind.

Hermione bit her lip before saying, "Harry, please! It's not safe; can you at least try it? I've got some books in the living room that could help."

Harry looked blankly at her for a moment, "There's no p-"

"-No point, yeah we know," Ron cut in, speaking up, "It's not about that mate, think about it like this; what's the harm? Plus, it'll make me and 'Mione feel better."

Harry looked at the earnest expression of his oldest friend and sighed, "Alright. I'll give it a shot."

His friends both broke into relieved smiles.

Ron looked around the bathroom, "Why are we still in here?"

Hermione laughed lightly, "Let's go back to the kitchen, I found the phone book for the region containing Godric's Hollow."

"Yeah." Harry agreed, standing up and stretching.

The trio walked out of the bathroom to the kitchen, which had been cleared of parchments and books by Kreacher, who had placed three plates on the table, each with a well-done steak and baked potatoes, a large jug of juice sat in the middle of the table. The house elf had just placed a bowl of salad on the table when they entered.

"Kind Masters' lunch is ready!" the old elf said happily.

"Thank you Kreacher," Hermione said with a smile, "If you don't mind my asking, where did you put the phone book that was sitting over there." She pointed to the left-hand corner of the table.

"Kreacher is putting it by the others in the library. He can go fetch if nice mud – Miss is wanting it."

"Oh, no," Hermione said, ignoring the near slip-up the elf had, "I'll get it. Don't worry Kreacher. You guys can start eating so long." She added, looking at the boys before running upstairs to the library.

Ron rolled his eyes, "Honestly, I don't understand it," he said to Harry as they took seats around the table, "Kreacher finally wants to help, and Hermione still manages to go all SPEW on us in the middle of a war."

He cut a huge chunk out of his steak and shoved it in his mouth, effectively cutting off anymore that could be said by him on the matter. Harry grinned at Ron as the boy actually tried to say something, before realising just how much meat he had shoved in his mouth, and choosing instead to start chewing industriously, while scooping some salad onto his plate.

Harry shook his head as he poured himself a glass of juice.

"Guys…" They looked up as Hermione walked back through the door, a large phone book open in her hands.

"What is it Hermione?" Harry asked, looking at the strange expression on her face, "Did you find Bathilda Bagshot?"

She nodded and said, "Yes, but that's not it."

She walked over to the table and carefully put the book down so as not to knock anything over, before pointing at one of the names in the book.

"I was paging through the 'B's in Godric's Hollow. I'd accidentally skipped a few pages while I was walking downstairs, and this caught my eye." She said, still pointing.

"What is it?" Ron asked, trying to peer through Hermione's hand.

She looked at Ron, "Ron, do you know what Bakura's fathers name is?"

"Er," Ron looked taken aback, "No, we just called him Professor Bakura or Mr Bakura when we met him, why?"

Hermione sighed, "Because, there's a house listed as belonging to a Bakura in Godric's Hollow!"

The two boys scrambled out of their chairs and around the table to where Hermione was standing. True enough, there was a listing for a R. Bakura.

"R. Bakura?" Harry said, "Do you think Ryou Bakura was named after his father, or that they just happen to have the same initials?"

Ron shrugged.

"We don't know if it actually is any relation," Hermione said quietly.

"Doesn't mean we can't check it out when we go there." Harry said.

"True," She said softly.

There was a growling noise, and the boys stared at her. Hermione blushed, "Let's eat while we plan things though." She said.

The trio returned to their seats and continued their meal, discussing their plans for Godric's Hollow as they ate Kreacher's delicious meal.

The plan of action had upped everyone's spirits as they prepared their tactics to go to Godric's Hollow.

* * *

A/N: A long chapter, and an early update as a thank you to all my reviewers and all the people who added this story to their favourites or alerted it. Thank you, everyone! Also, I apologise for any errors in this, since I haven't re-evaluated it as much as I would have liked, and I'm pretty tired right now. Time is not my friend.

I put some photos of my Millennium Ring and Eye on DeviantArt (Which I recently rediscovered) for anyone who wants to see, there's a link on my profile. *Hint*


	10. Chapter 10: KHEI HEDJ

Title: Shadow Balance

Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past. 

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world.

* * *

CHAPTER TEN: KHEI HEDJ – WHITE APPEARANCE

It was Christmas Eve when Harry, Ron and Hermione arrived in Godric's Hollow. They'd spent the last few days working on how to proceed when they arrived at the Hollow, and had decided on a path to follow during their time there.

They planned to Apperate to the edge of town nearest the graveyard, under the invisibility cloak of course, and from there visit the graves of Harry's parents before looking for Bathilda, who they _knew_ lived in the village, before checking out the address listed as belonging to _a_ Bakura, and while Bakura was a priority due to his holding a Horcrux, they still didn't know if it was actually him, or even anybody related to him who lived there.

They were under the effects of the Polyjuice potion when they arrived; Harry looking like a balding old man with Hermione as his mousey wife and Ron as their adult son when they arrived at the edge of the village. Making sure the coast was clear; they pulled the cloak off, which was barely big enough to cover the three of them in their current forms at any rate, and was more of a hindrance at this point anyway.

It was snowing lightly, icing the village in a way that made it seem unreal and postcard-like in the late afternoon light.

Wandering around the small town they walked through a small square towards the graveyard, where they noticed the War Memorial. Walking close they gasped when it suddenly changed into a statue of Harry's Parents with a baby boy clutched in his mother's arms.

"Harry…" Hermione whispered.

"Blimey, is that..?" Ron said in the same tone.

Harry studied the statue, saying nothing. He was looking at his parent's smiling faces captured in wrought metal, and the happy baby looking up at the parents dotting faces. Looking at it, Harry felt tightness in his chest. The baby had no scar on its forehead. This was what things could have stayed like for him if they were still here...

No, it wouldn't have stayed like that. Voldemort was still around then, as he is once more. Who knows how much longer that happiness would have lasted before his parents, and the people who survived the last war, died, because his mother was never made to make that sacrifice?

Looking away he looked at the others and said, "Come on. We've wasted enough time here."

They walked down the street and up the next one when they saw the graveyard. There was a church on the grounds, and Harry could hear carolling inside. Walking along the side, into the graveyard, Harry noticed a few footsteps in the fresh snow inside the graveyard.

Looking at the others, Hermione shrugged, "We look like Muggles; it'll be okay."

Nodding, the three of them made their way into the cemetery.

It took them awhile as they silently searched the gravesites for Harry's parents, but just as he was getting ready to give up, Ron called out.

"Oi! Harry, over here!"

Moving over to where his friend stood, Harry looked at the white marble headstone.

_James Potter, born 27 March 1960, died 31 October 1981_

_Lily Potter, born 30 January 1960, died 31 October 1981_

_The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death._

Reading the words slowly, he felt his eyes grow hot. Soon he was crying, tears slipping down his face, burning against his cold skin. He didn't bother wiping them away, or pretend that he wasn't weeping, and his friends didn't comment. They just stood there together in silence.

After a few minutes, Ron broke the silence, "Bloody hell, is that a person?"

Looking at where he was pointing, Harry saw a thin figure leaning against a gravestone a few rows over. It looked like he's been there awhile; his head and shoulders were white, covered in snow.

Hermione looked nervous, "Should we see if he's alright? He looks dead."

Harry nodded, finally wiping his face to clear his vision.

Moving over to the figure, Ron said, "Hey, you!"

The thin frame jumped, shaking snow off his shoulders, revealing identically coloured hair underneath.

Looking at them, the figure said, "Pardon? Were you talking to me?" His brown eyes wide and nervous.

The three of them gasped.

It was Bakura.

* * *

Christmas Eve hadn't started off well for Ryou; in fact the whole week had been pretty bad.

That morning he'd caught a bus into the city to visit Granny Bagshot in the hospital. She was still in bad condition, and the doctors were pessimistic about her outlook.

He'd been admitted as well when the ambulance had arrived at the hospital last week, but the doctors cleared him after only two days, leaving him to worry about Granny Bagshot.

They'd taken the dead snake's head with them when the ambulance came, so that they could check its venom. Apparently the snake was quite deadly, but they told Ryou they'd gotten to her just in time. Apparently she had surprisingly little venom in her system considering the type of snake; Ryou thanked Dian Keto for this. Unfortunately her age was a major issue, and they didn't expect her to hang on.

He couldn't even bring her something from her home to cheer her up in the few moments she would awake while he was there.

Her house had burned down while they were at the hospital, apparently only hours after they'd left. It was assumed by the fire department that in the rush to the hospital something must have been knocked over or left on. No one was calling arson, although Ryou was suspicious. He'd been there, and he hadn't seen anything that could have caused the fire. That, and the fact that Granny Bagshot was a witch, and therefore would probably have had some method of preventing non-magical fires, at least he assumed so. He just thought it was a strange coincidence in all.

He'd decided against going to the Christmas Eve gathering at the church, as well as the party planned by the ladies of the village on Christmas. Instead he'd stayed at the old lady's bedside at the hospital until mid-afternoon, before he went to buy some flowers.

It had been snowing gently when Ryou arrived back at the Hollow. Walking home, he went down to the backyard of his house before climbing the fence into the cemetery. He would still have to walk past the side of the church, but at least he wouldn't have to bump into anyone going through the front. He could hear the laughter and carolling, but it felt far away, like another world in which he didn't belong.

Walking over to Amane and mother's graves, Ryou placed the flowers on them saying quietly, "Merry Christmas."

Sitting down, he leaned against Amane's cold gravestone and began telling her about his day.

Ryou felt quite warm, despite the snow, and he stayed where he was long after he'd finished talking. Feeling a bit fuzzy, Ryou shifted against the grave and dozed off, barely noticing the light snow fluttering down on him.

In his sleepy state he vaguely heard some talking, but shook it off. There was no one here, not this deep in the cemetery; they were all at the church this evening.

"Hey you!"

Ryou jumped a mile, a mountain of snow sliding off him. Gazing around nervously, he spotted two middle aged people and a slightly younger man watching him.

"Pardon?" he said, "Were you talking to me?"

The three adults gasped.

"Bakura!" The younger man blurted.

Looking at them in confusion he said, "I'm sorry, do I know you?" He didn't recognise their faces, but then again, they may have been some of the church-goers who he might have met tonight if Granny Bagshot was okay, or possibly someone he'd run into at the supermarket.

The woman had grabbed the other two and was whispering franticly at them.

"Are you alright?" Ryou asked shifting nervously, "Do you guys live around here?" he added, just in case he should know them.

After a moment of silence, the balding man spoke, "No we don't."

Ryou frowned, "Then how do you know me?"

Silence again.

"Do you live here?" The woman asked curiously, as if she already knew the answer.

"Why do you want to know?" Ryou was getting suspicious, "Who are you people?"

The older man grabbed the other two and they whispered again.

"Is there somewhere else we can speak, that's not so open?" He asked.

Ryou nodded nervously, he wasn't sure about these people but at least he had his knife with him this time in case. He really hoped he wouldn't have to use it.

"We can go to my house." He said, motioning them to follow him through the gravesites.

Reaching the fence next to his house, Ryou turned to the three adults, "That's my house," he pointed, "You can walk around to the front if you go out the gate. I'm going over." He said before jumping and pulling himself over the fence into his backyard.

Ryou looked back at the three old people who, to his surprise, started climbing over themselves. It was strange watching old people climb the fence, but they were soon over and Ryou motioned them inside.

Turning on the lights, he led them into the living room.

"Please, take a seat." He said awkwardly.

They sat down, looking at Ryou. Fidgeting under their gaze he said, "Can I get anyone a cup of tea?"

The oldest man shook his head, "No thanks. The truth is Bakura, you do know us."

Looking at his companions first, they nodded slightly, he continued, "Do you recall back near the end of August when you were in -"

Ryou started in shock, knocking over a small coffee table. He'd spent the end of August in the wizarding world!

"Who are you people, Are you Death Eaters? Are you with the ministry?" He'd pulled out his knife and held it defensively in front of him.

At the sight of his knife the three moved quickly, pulling out their wands. Everyone froze, watching each other. Before anything could happen though, the balding man yelled out.

"Everybody stop!"

The room looked at him as he lowered his wand.

"What I was saying was; I'm Harry Potter."

Ryou looked at him and laughed, "No you aren't. I may be a bit naïve, but I'm not an idiot. Where's your proof?"

"If you wait ten minutes you'll have it."

"What, wait ten minutes and give your Death Eater friends the chance to sneak up on me? Not likely!"

"Please!" the man said, "We promise we're not Death Eaters!"

"Like hell I trust any wizard after what happened to Granny Bagshot!" He yelled.

There was a moment of silence before the woman spoke, "Bagshot?_ Bathilda_ Bagshot? You know her?"

"Yes, and she might die because of that bloody snake!"

"What?" The woman squeaked, "She's dying?"

Ryou narrowed his eyes, "Yes, why do you care?"

"Because we're not bloody Death Eaters!" the younger man yelled, "And like you're one to talk! We heard about what happened to Umbridge at the Leaky Cauldron, at least we're not bloody murderers!"

Ryou's gaze moved quickly and he stared at the man, his eyes hard and cold; before the pain of what had actually been said flooded through him; in the past few months he'd almost forgotten what had happened, having it brought up and thrown in his face…

Ryou dropped his knife, brown eyes brimming with tears.

"H-how does anyone know about that?" he whispered, all sense of self-preservation lost in his sudden anguish.

Falling on to an armchair heavily, Ryou brought his hands up to his face, tracing the thin pink line down his cheek. Elbows resting on his knees, silent sobs wracking his thin frame.

"It wasn't supposed to h-happen. N-none of this is my problem, why can't the world just l-leave me alone." Ryou stuttered into his knees, "I have enough to bloody well deal with! Why does this always follow me? I don't need this; I should have just gone back to Japan!"

* * *

A/N: A short chapter, sorry… but at least I update pretty fast, right? …right? :P Anyway, sorry about the angsty ending here.

Yeah… the next few chapters will probably also be pretty short, my wrist is acting up and I've also got some angle-grinding to get done, which means I might lose a finger or two due to my general clumsiness.

I wanted to get an update out on the 14th as celebration of three years of YGOTAS, but as that probably won't happen, here's me saying an early congratulations to The Abridged Series! Hurrah!

Also:

Does anyone have any good ideas for a Shadow Game? It won't come up for a quite a few chapters yet, but any ideas to help my brain to get in gear would be a great help.


	11. Chapter 11: KHEFTYU BINU SPER

Title: Shadow Balance

Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past. 

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world.

* * *

CHAPTER ELEVEN: KHEFTYU BINU SPER - EVIL ENEMIES ARRIVE

The golden trio looked at each other in horror. Bakura was sitting on the armchair, leaning over in on himself and shaking with the force of his distress. What were they supposed to do? This wasn't the sort of thing they were expecting or were ready to handle.

Hermione was the first to move; mainly to send Ron a scathing look; after all, it was his fault Bakura was upset. She did feel a bit hypocritical doing so though, mainly due to the fact that she was actually also extremely relieved; when Ron had blown up at the pale teen she'd been worried that Bakura would attack them then and there. He'd had a truly terrifying look in his eyes moments before he'd burst into tears. It had scared her, and she could see the two boys hadn't yet recovered form the sudden change.

The Polyjuice potion was starting to wear off now, and as Harry felt himself change he shifted back into action, and decided to deal with the most pressing issue first. Pointing his wand at the knife Ryou had dropped; Harry quickly summoned it and tosses it into a far corner of the room, before casting _Muffliato_ on the area. The others noticed what he was doing and quickly soundproofed the house.

Bakura didn't notice or didn't care that his knife had gone. He was still hunched over, hands tearing at his long hair, crying.

Now that the knife was gone, Hermione slowly approached him, feeling it was safer to try and comfort him now. The Polyjuice had worn off the trio completely now, and she didn't want to startle the obviously unhinged boy.

"A-are you alright?" she whispered as kindly as she could.

Ryou didn't reply, but he had stopped moving.

"Bakura…" She reached out and touched his shoulder.

He flinched hard, pulling out of her grip he looked up at her. His eyes were puffy and red, and had a sadness in them that was so deep, so _ancient_, that it was more painful to look at than anything else she'd ever seen.

"You're Hermione." He said. His voice was calm.

She nodded, "That's right. And I'm here with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley." She was unnerved at how quickly he seemed to calm down, and tried to keep her voice slow and soothing as she spoke to him. Ryou didn't notice though, at the mention of Ron's last name he blinked.

"Weasley? I didn't know you were a Weasley." he said, ignoring the mention of Harry Potter, which surprised the trio, "I know your brothers."

"Yeah, I know. Your dad used to work with Bill." The redhead said awkwardly, not used to being singled out first while with his friends.

"I mean the twins, Fred and George. I met them in Diagon Alley. They were nice."

He paused, "I don't really know Bill very well. I only met him a few times, father didn't want me to meet too many of his co-workers while I was in Egypt." Ryou's tone was calm, but he was obviously babbling.

"You know the twins?" Ron asked incredulously.

Ryou nodded, "They were nice. They helped me out a lot while I was staying in the alley. Probably saved my life telling me about the… ministry."

Harry was thinking about something else the albino had just said, "Why didn't your father want you to meet his co-workers?" It was curiosity that made him ask this, rather than an actual need to know.

"He didn't want news of the police investigation to get out." The albino said quietly, "He had enough to worry about with me around; the spirit was still around then, bad things could've happened." Bakura blinked after saying this, but didn't show any other emotion.

The three looked at each other.

Hermione turned back to him and asked slowly, "What do you mean? What investigation, what spirit?"

Bakura slumped forward a bit with a sigh, before sitting up straight and slowly getting to his feet. The others took a step backwards, hands quickly strengthening their grip on their wands.

Looking at them with dead eyes he said, "If I'm going to be interrogated I first want a cup of tea. I've had a hard enough day; and I haven't even gotten dinner started yet."

With that, he ignored the wands pointing at him and pushed passed them into the kitchen. They followed him cautiously and watched as he filled a kettle and pulled open the fridge. He pulled out some vanilla cake and placed it on the counter.

Looking at the three teens he said, "There're some blueberry muffins in the tin on the shelf. Granny Bagshot made them last week. They're one of her better batches."

While his tone of voice didn't change, his eyes seemed to dim even further when he mentioned Bathilda Bagshot.

When they didn't move, he shrugged and grabbed the tin himself. As the kettle boiled, he placed four plates on the kitchen table, a muffin on each, before turning to the three again.

"What type of tea do you want? I have Green tea, Earl Grey and Rooibos tea." At their silence he said, "I'm having Earl Grey, is that okay for everyone?"

They nodded, watching in bewilderment as Ryou walked around the kitchen, looking completely unlike the guy they'd seen holding a knife to them or crying into his knees. They didn't know how to deal with him at all at this point. It was unnerving.

Ryou poured four cups and set them around the table next to the muffins and cake.

"Please, have a seat." He motioned to the table politely before taking a seat himself.

The three walked to the table slowly and sat down, not taking their eyes off the teen. Ryou was already eating his muffin and sipping at his hot tea. After a moment he looked up from his food and looked pointedly at them.

"It's not poisoned you know, although you might want to be a bit cautious around some of Granny's baking." He motioned at the tea and cakes, "And you don't have to tread so lightly around me. Just ask what you need to, I promise I won't lose control of myself again."

"You won't?" Ron asked sceptically, but stuffing his muffin in his mouth as he said it.

Ryou shook his head, "No. I apologize for my actions earlier. I haven't been my best of late; I'd just managed to get some of the more disastrous aspects of myself under wraps when Granny Bagshot was attacked last week."

Hermione nodded, "You keep calling her Granny, are you related to her?" she asked curiously.

Ryou shook his head, "No, she was just friends with mother, but she was as good as a grandmother to me and my sister."

"You mentioned something happened to her, what?"

Ryou stared into his cup of tea in silence for a minute before he said, "She didn't come to visit me here one day." He paused, "She always visits me. S-so I went down the road to check on her, she's really old so I was worried she'd d-died in her sleep or something. I went inside when she didn't answer the door."

Ryou clutched his tea mug hard, his knuckles going white.

"I found her in the attic. Something was standing over her, it looked just like her – but it moved wrong. When it saw me, it started screaming about killing 'the speaker' it attacked me. It was a giant snake; it was hiding in a copy of her skin. It spoke, which was weird, I'd never met a talking snake; but then again I haven't really been near many snakes."

"You understood the snake?" Harry asked dumbfounded.

Ryou nodded blankly before laughing sadly, "I managed to kill the snake… blood was everywhere." He shivered slightly.

The trio looked disturbed.

"She was almost dead when I got to her. But she whispered one thing to me; _Death Eaters._" Ryou's face narrowed in anger.

They gasped. And Harry looked ready to interrupt again, but Ryou continued talking.

"I shook her and her wand rolled out of her sleeve. I hadn't known she was a witch; she never acted like one, at least not that I noticed. She always used non-magical things around the house. I used her wand to summon a phone; I don't own a wand myself not being a wizard and all. I phoned an ambulance and got her out of there."

They sat in silence for a minute before Harry spoke.

"You said that last time we met. What do you mean you aren't a wizard? The fact that you can do magic – use a wand, doesn't that make you one?"

"No."

"Then what are you?" Harry said, frustrated.

"I'm a Shadow Mage." Ryou said softly.

"What? Shadow Mages don't exist!" Hermione had stood up, "They died out over three thousand years ago in Egypt! We covered some of the history in Ancient Ruins while we were learning Hieratic!"

Harry and Ron looked at her in surprise; they had no idea what Bakura or Hermione was talking about.

Ryou nodded, "That's true," he agreed, "That's why there are less than ten of us in existence. The only way someone can have Shadow powers is through a link to the ancient past."

"What does that mean?" Asked Harry.

"Shadow? Sounds bloody suspicious to me; makes me think of dark magic." Ron muttered.

Ryou looked at him with his sad brown eyes and said, "The Shadows aren't dark, they cannot exist without light, just like light cannot exist without dark."

Hermione looked at Ron and said, "Ron, Shadow Mages are the users of an ancient branch of magic that originated in Ancient Egypt. It was used by priests and the pharaohs to protect and serve their kingdom. It was used to keep people _safe_ from what I've heard."

She looked at Ryou, "If you're serious would that make you a priest? I'm not sure though, there wasn't much information available about the Shadow era, and we were told that most knowledge of it was lost, if you're telling the truth you've got to tell me what you know about this."

"I'm probably not allowed to tell you any thing else," Ryou said ducking his head, "Isis would probably kill me for spilling tomb keeper secrets without her knowledge. Ask me something else."

Hermione's implication that he was one of the pharaoh's priests had made him uncomfortable. Telling them that he was a tomb robber and former enemy of Egypt hadn't really been in his plans at any point, but now that she'd made the connection between Shadow Magic and the priests, the thought of telling her that he was practically the exact opposite of that image, well, it wasn't a nice feeling.

Hermione didn't look happy with his lack of response, it was obvious she wanted to know more, and Harry could see that she was about to push the matter. He motioned for her to let it go, at least for now, hoping she'd remember they had more important reasons for being here.

"We want to know if you stole something in Diagon Alley," Harry said.

Ryou looked at Harry before replying; "Probably." he muttered darkly.

"We're looking for a gold locket with an 'S' on the front. Did you take it?"

Ryou was quiet before speaking, "I might have done so. I remember grabbing something like that off a shifty man in the Alley."

"Great! Where is it now?" Harry asked excited.

"Banished to the Shadows, with everything else I got in the wizarding world."

"What does that mean?" Harry asked, baffled.

"I don't feel like explaining." Ryou said coldly.

Harry shivered; Ryou's personality seemed to be shifting again, despite him saying he'd stay under control.

"Can you get it back?" Harry asked.

"Why do you guys want it so badly?" Ryou shot back.

"It's important to us." He said.

"I figured as much." Ryou said quietly, "I recall when I got it; I sensed something strange about it." He paused, "In fact now that I think about it, it felt like soul magic. Sort of like when I used to seal parts of my own soul into objects." (i)

"You created Horcruxes?" Harry was horrified.

"What's a Horcrux?" Ryou asked confusion evident in his eyes.

After a minute Harry spoke, hoping it was a misunderstanding, "Horcruxes are a dark, _evil_ magic. It's a soul shard sealed into an object. As long as it exists, the person is basically immortal. A Horcrux is created when a ritual is done and a murder is committed. Is _that_ what you did?"

Ryou frowned, "It was just something I could always do, I can control and manipulate souls, not just my own. I haven't done it by myself in ages though. I never killed anyone to do it either, nor did the spirit – I mean," he was cut off.

Harry frowned, "you mentioned a spirit before. Are you possessed?" Harry remembered the article from the magazine Hermione had found.

Ryou's eyes widened, "What? How?" he caught a hold of himself and shook his head, "Not anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I just said; not any more. Not for almost a year."

"Who possessed you?" _Please don't let it be Voldemort_, Harry thought.

"Zork; an ancient demon that had haunted my soul for three thousand years."

"You're three thousand years old?" Ron asked doubt evident in his voice once more.

"Only half of me. The half that was possessed. Half of my soul was sealed in an object, like that Horcrux thing you mentioned I guess, and as a result I've existed in some form for the past three thousand years. " Ryou shook his head, "Can we not talk about it? The reason I came to Brittan was to escape all that."

"Sure, okay." Harry said, despite his curiosity, "But we need the locket."

"Is it one of those Horcrux things you mentioned?" Ryou asked curiously.

"…Yes."

"Whose soul is inside it?"

"Voldemort." Harry said.

Ryou jumped the moment he'd said it, sensing the summoning magic, "Don't say his name!" He yelled.

He spun around to face the door, looking as if someone might attack at any moment.

"What? It's just a name." Harry said, startled at Bakura's reaction. He hadn't expected such a reaction from someone reasonably unfamiliar with the wizarding world.

"Like heck it is!" Ryou shouted, "You've bloody well alerted the Death Eaters to our position!"

The trio looked at him in horror.

"What -" Harry started, when there was a loud banging at the door.

"Oh shit!" Ryou swore uncharacteristically, "It's too late!"

The four were on their feet in seconds, three wands out. Ryou's hand flicked to his belt for his knife, only to find nothing.

"Where's my knife!" he whispered urgently.

"I chucked it into a corner earlier." Harry whispered back.

There was yelling outside.

Ryou pulled at his hair, "We don't have time for this! Diabound!"

The room shimmered and the snake tailed Ka monster filled the room. Ryou noticed Diabound looked much more reptilian than before, as a result of killing the snake.

Seeing Diabound warmed Ryou's heart, it reminded him of how good at least a _part_ of his soul was at adapting to bad situations.

Hermione let out a squeak when she realised they were surrounded by the monster, and Ron yelled moments later. Harry just stared, eyes wide.

"Shut up!" Ryou hissed at them before turning to his Ka, "Diabound, get us out of here!"

The creature scooped them up and, smashing the house lights, it blended into its surroundings. It pulled them through the wall into the living room, where Ryou quickly grabbed his knife from the corner, hooking it on his belt before moving out the house silently. As Diabound pulled them through the garden, they saw masked figures surrounding the house as they glided passed.

Keeping away from the light of the street, where Diabound's illusion would be hard to maintain, the Ka pulled them through the dark graveyard. There was little sound from the church, and Ryou wondered if the service was over. They stopped at Amane's grave, which was far enough from the house for them to speak unheard.

"What is this thing?" Harry asked in vague horror, staring at the Ka. The Ka looked down at him and made a face at his comment as if to say; 'That's the tone you use on someone who saved your life?'

Ryou however, was focusing on other things, "Oh God! I hope they don't make a mess!"

The other's looked at Ryou, who was looking back in the direction of his house, in surprise.

"I think we had more important things to worry about right now." Harry hissed at him, but Ryou wasn't listening.

"Father finally gets home in two weeks! Oh man, what will he think if the house is completely demolished? I spent ages keeping it tidy!"

"Bakura, focus!"

Ryou sighed and looked at them, "Do you have somewhere we can go?" He said, "I don't think I can go home now because of you." Bitterness was marked in his tone.

"Let's go back to Grimmauld Place!" Ron whispered, peering towards the house they'd just left nervously.

"But -" Hermione started, her eyes twitching towards Ryou.

"No, I think Ron's right Hermione. Bakura, do you know how to Apparate?" Harry said.

"No! For the last time, I'm not a bloody wizard!" Ryou hissed back.

"Then hang on to us."

Moments later, there was a small pop.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for all your reviews! I hope my replies got through to everyone. And thanks for all the suggestions for Shadow Games; I haven't made any solid decisions yet in regards to that, so if anyone has more ideas I'd be happy to hear them.

Sorry for any errors in this. I haven't been sleeping much of late and I'm rather buggered as a result.

For anyone wondering why I made Ryou able to talk to snakes, well; it was mainly because of Diabound. Diabound is a giant half snake creature, so I thought a magical connection to snakes was kinda fitting.

(i)Ryou was able to seal his own soul into dice in the original manga in an attempt to stop the spirit, destroying himself in the process. However because he also had a part of himself in the NPC White Wizard Bakura, he was ultimately able to come back because a part of his soul still remained, even with the spirit gone at the time. A bit like the immortality granted by the Horcruxes, only without murder. So even without the spirit, Ryou could still manage an amount of soul magic alone. At least, that's how I'm looking at it.


	12. Chapter 12: SHEUT DI ANKH DJET

Title: Shadow Balance

Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past. 

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world.

* * *

CHAPTER TWELVE: SHEUT DI ANKH DJET – SHADOWS GIVEN LIFE FOREVER

They reappeared on a dark doorstep, Diabound still wrapped around them, and they quickly entered the house. A few minutes later they were collapsed in the kitchen. Diabound was clearly visible in the light and the trio were staring at the monster in disgust.

"Thanks Diabound!" Ryou smiled up at his soul beast, before the Ka faded away back into his soul.

"What was that _thing_?" Harry asked; repulsion in his voice now that the monster and danger were gone.

Ryou looked at him sharply and said coldly, "Please watch your tone. I do not appreciate insults towards my Ka."

"Ka?" Ron asked.

Ryou sighed and said, "That which distinguishes the difference between a living and a dead person. Diabound is a part of my soul. Unlike soul shards though, if Diabound is destroyed I'll die." Ryou said evenly, "My existence depends on Diabound, just like everyone's existence depends on their Ka."

"Wait, we don't have Ka, but we exist!" Harry exclaimed.

"Of course you have a Ka! Not being able to summon it doesn't mean you don't have one. Only Shadow Mages can do that."

"Look we have more important things to worry about!" Hermione stepped in, "How did those Death Eaters find us?" She asked Ryou.

Ryou laughed hollowly, "Because you," he pointed at Harry, "Summoned them. In your naivety you said the Dark Lord's name. "

"But… A name is just a name isn't it?" Harry asked, confused.

"You really are ignorant," Ryou mussed much to Harry's anger.

"Well then enlighten us!" He growled.

"A person's name, their _Ren (_i_), _contains more power than many things, similar to Ka; it's a part of the soul. Normally it only works with a person's birth name, but from what Fred and George told me, the Dark Lord was reborn a few years ago. Which could mean his… chosen name became his new Ren. It means this; the Dark Lord is using soul magic to signal him to anyone using his name."

Ryou paused, he'd realised something!

"Oh no…" He whispered, his eyes wide.

"What? What now?" Ron asked.

"The idiot… I should have realised!" Ryou looked at the trio, "The Dark Lord is using powers he can't control _only_ using Dark wizards magic! Only the Shadows can be used to manipulate the soul. This explains why he had to kill to create those Horcrux things, he's bastardised the magic!"

Ryou was angry now. Voldemort was messing with the Shadows; as a Shadow Mage he was a part of the Shadows. That meant he couldn't let this go. To hurt the Shadows was to hurt him, and his friends.

"I've got to destroy these Horcruxes and stop him. He's tainting the Shadows balance by doing this!" He stared at the trio, "Stand back!"

He raised his hands and pulled a hole in the Shadows. The trio shivered; it felt almost like Dementors were surrounding the room, drifting out from that one point.

Focusing on the hole he called out for the one item, since that would be easier than manually searching the Shadows for it. The locket shot out and he caught it in his hand. He then summoned up the Shadows around him and pulled a card out before calling;

"Dark Necrofear!" The blue woman cradling a doll walked out the Shadows into the Shadowed room.

The trio gasped in shock, the feeling of dread given off by the Shadows had been enough to make them forget to even draw their wands, but this creature woke them up.

"What the hell is that?" Ron yelled, wand pointing at the fiend. The doll in Necrofear's arms swung its head around to face him and gave out a high pitched giggle; in his surprise Ron yelped and dropped his wand.

Ryou ignored them, "Necrofear, I need your help." He lifted up the locket, "I know I left this in your guard, and I must first apologise for any suffering that has caused you. It was my fault I didn't realise what it was sooner. Please help me destroy it."

Dark Necrofear nodded her head mutely and Ryou smiled. Both of them focusing, the locket lifted into the air. After a minute Ryou frowned and leaned in to look at the locket as it spun around slowly in midair. Nudging it with his finger his eyes suddenly shot wide open, he pulled back and looked up at the Shadow Monster who nodded before he looked back at the snake pattern on the locket.

"It needs to be _opened_…" He murmured.

The trio didn't move or say anything, instead choosing to stand still watching what was happening with baited breath. It didn't go unnoticed that the last word was hissed however, although Ryou blinked it surprise when he saw the locket suddenly click open.

Before he could react however, Necrofear shot her gaze at it and there was a loud crack. The locket broke in half and fell to the ground. There was a collective sigh from the on looking trio.

"Thank you." Ryou smiled up at Dark Necrofear and let the Shadows fade; the Shadow Monster placed her free hand on his head affectionately as she faded away.

Harry was gaping at the broken locket. Bakura just destroyed a Horcrux in minutes! How could anyone be that powerful? If he could do that…

Harry realised something in amazement; did that mean the snake Bakura killed could have been Nagini? Was Bakura the one who killed the snake from his vision? Did that mean they'd actually been that close to a location Voldemort had been only a short while before they'd gone to the Hollow? Things started to fall together in Harry's head, and he looked at Ryou in amazement.

Ryou turned to face the three, "I'm sorry about that. I couldn't let you have the locket, it was too dangerous. That wasn't something that should exist; using pure darkness on the soul is just too unstable." He shivered and whispered to himself almost like he was reassuring himself, "_No_ part of me would ever be that foolish."

"T-that's fine," Harry said in surprise, still staring at the broken locket, "That's what we were going to do anyway."

"How did you do that? What was that creature anyway?" Hermione asked.

"Dark Necrofear is a friend who I've known for many years. She's a Shadow Monster."

"A what?"

"Well… True Shadow monsters are souls that were once human, but instead of dying, they chose to combine their Ka and _Sheut(_ii_)_, normally out of the need to protect someone. It basically makes them immortal, but they can only live in the Shadow Realm, except when summoned to help. You also get the more common types, which are just Sheut that have been extracted from a soul and sealed."

"What was that piece of paper you used to summon it – her?" Hermione asked

"A Duel Monster card. Have you heard of the game?"

She gasped, and her hand moved to the bead bag she carried. Moments later, she pulled out a magazine with a dramatic picture of Yugi – no, the pharaoh, on the front. She passed it to him and he smiled.

"We found this; you're one of the top duellists in the world right?"

Looking at the worlds on the front he said, "Battle City? That was a painful event."

"What, why?"

"I was stabbed by the possessed half of my soul, forced to send relatively innocent people to the Shadow Realm, manipulated by a mind controlling idiot, friend or not, and finally sent to the Shadow Realm myself to endure unending agony until I was finally released." Ryou said.

"What? How did all that happen? I thought Duel Monsters was a Muggle thing."

He laughed, "Hardly! Duel Monsters are a Shadow Mage thing; the creator himself was a Shadow Mage, before he… died" Ryou thought unhappily about Duellist Kingdom.(iii)

"What! And they sell it to Muggles?"

"Of course, the cards are only dangerous in the hands of Shadow Mages. They're just normal playing card for everyone else." He looked thoughtful for a moment, "Well, most of the time."

"But wasn't Battle City a Muggle event?"

Ryou laughed, "You'd be hard pressed to find a _non_ Shadow Duellists in the finals of Battle City!"

They were quiet while this sank in.

Harry's scar started to pain him slightly, but it felt numbed and far away. At the same time Harry rubbed his scar, Bakura's gaze swung towards Harry, his eyes wide. When he spoke however, it was cold with realisation.

"I just recalled something," Ryou looked at Harry, "When I first met you at the café you gave off this weird twinge of magic."

Ryou picked up the broken locket, "I noticed it again now, just before you rubbed your forehead. This time I recognised it though." He clenched his hand around the locket.

"You're covered in Dark soul magic."

* * *

A/N: Sorry this update is so late, I've been rather ill lately; I still haven't quite recovered yet. Sinusitis is no fun when you get it as often as me… Due to this, I should add that my next update will most likely take even longer to get up, mainly because I have a lot of work to get done that I haven't had the chance to do. Sorry about the shortness, but honestly; my brain is really woozy right now.

i) Ren: the name a part of the Ancient Egyptian concept of the soul.

ii) Sheut: the shadow, a part of the Ancient Egyptian concept of the soul.

iii) Yep, Pegasus is dead.


	13. Chapter 13: HURW

Title: Shadow Balance

Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past. 

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world.

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: HURW - CORRUPTION

"Have you been messing with soul magic?" Ryou demanded.

"What? No!"

"Then explain why you just felt like one of those Horcruxes!" Ryou said, walking towards him, "I can feel it on you; you're hurting the Shadows!"

At the mad look in Bakura's eyes, the trio gripped their wands. They'd forgotten who they were dealing with in the rush. Moving close to Harry, his friends stood next to him protectively.

Bakura just laughed at them, "You think your little wands can stop me? That toad woman and her goons thought so too! That is, until they found out otherwise!" He sounded completly differant.

Harry felt sick. He remembered the description of gore he'd heard in the Leaky Cauldron. He hadn't been able to apply it to the white haired teen though, even during his outburst back in Godric's Hollow he hadn't really felt like a killer, just defensive.

"Bakura, I would never make a Horcrux! I'm not a murderer!" He said, trying to calm him down.

"You know, I've been thinking about that. I didn't think you were one either, but you know what they say; appearances can be deceiving." Ryou's voice had gone cold and hard.

Harry gasped, remembering back when he'd thought the same thing about Bakura. He didn't have time to focus on that though; he could see the Shadows flicker and move towards the boy, he was starting to vanish as he walked towards them, his knife pulled out…

"_Stupefy_!" all three of them yelled at the same time.

Bakura managed to dodge the first two spells, but the last one grazed his side and he fell over. The Shadows pulled away. Hermione quickly tied him up with a quick spell.

"What are we going to do with him?" Ron nudged the unmoving body with his foot.

Unconscious, the teen looked almost impossibly innocent. His hair spread out over the floor like a halo.

Appearances really were deceptive.

"Let's get him up on a chair and tie him up properly." Harry said, "If we make sure he can't move maybe he won't be able to do that Shadow magic stuff." Harry wasn't sure about that at all.

"He still has information; I want to know what he meant about the Horcrux magic he felt." He added.

"He mentioned it was when you touched your scar! Maybe it was Volde – You-Know-Who's magic he felt." Hermione said.

Harry nodded, but personally he didn't think so. Bakura had said something that may very well have confirmed a suspicion he had about the scar connection its self.

They pulled Bakura onto a kitchen chair, emptying his pockets of anything he could use as a weapon – including his deck. The knife, they grabbed from the floor and placed with everything else on the kitchen table.

In total, Bakura didn't have much else of danger on him. His pockets contained only his wallet, a hand written letter, a bent get-well card and of course, his deck.

They decided to study the things before they woke Bakura up, in case it gave them some clues.

"Wow! He must have over two hundred pounds in here!" Hermione said in amazement as she dug through his wallet.

"Here's his passport; it says he's got a British Citizenship and Japanese Permanent Residency. His birthday is September second; that makes him eighteen years old."

"He's less than a year older than us, hard to believe he's a complete nut." Ron murmured.

Harry had picked up the letter and was reading it, his eyes widening as he did.

"Guy's, listen to this," he motioned to the letter before he started reading;

"_Dear Amane,_

_It's your big brother again. How's mother? Things here are strange, but they've gotten better. I'll be arriving in Godric's Hollow to see you tomorrow, but I wanted to write to you one last time before then._

_Today was the last one. I went to see William Goudy, do you remember him? That was during the seven months we spent in Scotland. He was the boy you told me to stay away from because you _knew_ something like that would happen. I remember I tried to avoid him, but when he ripped up my first copy of Dark Necrofear I was so angry._

_I knew what would probably happen if I let him get to me, and you tried to calm me down. You didn't want me to do something _that_ horrible on _purpose_. You even bought packs of Duel Monster cards with your own money until you found me a new card. You even played Monster World with me for six hours straight._

_I was so happy; you were always the only person I could play games with devoid of something bad ever happening._

_William was the boy who decided it would be funny to follow me home one day. I saw him though, just before I reached the house. I still don't remember what happened next though, just waking up around the Monster World board as usual, William in a coma. I don't even know why he was following me to begin with._

_In a way I was grateful that time, the other times it had happened to people I considered my friends, no matter what you said. _

_I know now that friends don't try to hurt you or break your things, but that's only thanks to the gang. I wish you could have met them. You would have gotten on well with Yugi and Anzu in particular I think. _

_I released his soul, but I feel so awful when I think about the years of his life that he missed. It's so strange, looking at him at eighteen. When I was younger he felt so imposing, now; even though we're the same age he's so much smaller now._

_Just like all of them were._

_I can't wait to go back to the Hollow to see you; do you remember how we would wonder around the graves at night looking for ghosts? Godric's Hollow was the last place I ever saw you, but It was still the best place we ever lived. The spirit never hurt anyone there, not even during that week I can't remember._

_I hope that if I go back there nothing bad will ever happen again. I already told you about what happened in the wizarding world, but I'm worried. What if I lose control again? It was so horrible; I didn't feel anything while it was happening. Does that make me evil?_

_I hope I don't turn into something my friends will have to stop for the greater good. It happened before; maybe my soul is just destined for evil. At least before I could always blame it on Zork or the spirit, but the spirit was always a part of my soul in the end. _

_Even before he was possessed by Zork he wasn't okay; he did watch his village – his family and friends get murdered and mutilated in front of him; boiled down and melted as he watched. _

_I remember it too now._

_He was only eight at the time, the same age as I was when I got the Millennium Ring. I wonder if we could have been like Yugi and Atem at times, if I'd reacted differently, if he'd been less damaged. I wonder if that's why things are the way they are now. We were only two halves of the same soul after all, just like them._

_I understand what made him that way though, what made him feel he needed Zork to avenge his family. When you and mother left I would have done anything to get you back. _

_I still would!_

_But even Shadow magic can't truly do that. I learned that from what Pegasus attempted to get even just an illusion of his wife back. _

_Thanks for listening to me sis, take care of mother for me,_

_~Ryou"  
_

They looked at each other, a strange sadness creeping over them. The letter was an emotional bombshell, but even though it gave more answers it left even more questions.

"Aren't his mother and sister dead?" Ron asked quietly.

Hermione nodded, her eyes watering slightly, "Yes," she sniffed, "And he still writes to her!"

"They must be buried in that graveyard, the grave he was leaning against…" Ron whispered.

She burst into tears and clung to Ron, sobbing. Harry felt numb. It was the same graveyard as _his_ parents, they were only meters apart.

He also knew Ryou Bakura was definitely the boy from his school now. And it seemed the two kids from Surrey hadn't been the only ones sent into 'comas'. The boy had stolen people's souls!

He shivered, but he still confused about some things. How did any of this soul magic work? Bakura was obviously adept at it. Why didn't Bakura remember certain things? He'd told them he'd been possessed, but that had been Zork right? Who was this 'spirit'? Judging from the letter it was some kind of soul magic, a soul half? Like some kind of a Shadow Horcrux maybe?

Ron was comforting Hermione, but she wasn't crying anymore. Her eyes were full of questions that needed answers.

Harry looked at her and said, "We still need to ask him questions; without him attacking us again."

Hermione nodded before biting her lip, "I-I packed a vial of veritaserum." She whispered.

"Blimey 'Mione!" Ron exclaimed, "Where'd you get that? It's a controlled substance isn't it?"

Looking nervous she whispered something under her breath.

"What was that Hermione? I missed it." Harry asked.

Looking up, her face red she said; "I stole it from Professor Slughorn's office at the end of the year! Okay? I thought we might need it, so I went into a teacher's office without _permission_ and took his potions and supplies without his knowledge!"

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed, "When'd you manage to do that?"

Flushing again she quickly told them how she'd broken into his office while he'd been helping some of the younger Slytherins in the common room before they had to leave for the train.

"Never knew you had it in you to do something like that Hermione." Harry grinned.

She glared and said, "You know what, just forget it. Forget I said anything!" She waved her arms in exasperation.

Harry blinked, "Hey, we didn't mean to upset you it's-"

"It's not that." She whispered, much softer. She sounded nervous.

"Then what's the problem?" Ron asked.

"It's just, I know I'm the one who brought it up; but…" She bit her lip, "Using the serum like this is illegal. The penalties for doing this are almost as harsh as the ones for using an Unforgivable."

"What? Really?" Harry exclaimed, "Why's that? I mean, it got used on Barty Jr. and Umbridge tried to use it on me several times in fifth year. I mean, _Snape_ even threatened me with it a few times."

"Because it takes away the drinkers free will." Hermione looked at him, "It takes away their ability to think or block information unless they're _really_ skilled at Occlumency; and even then some secrets will be told. Very few people can throw the potion off completely. It's almost like using the Imperious curse on someone."

"Well, that's good isn't it? We'll know he's telling the truth?" Ron pointed out.

Harry meanwhile was thinking. He knew what it was like to be put under the Imperious curse muliple times, and the feeling that everything in the world was okay that came with it... If the veritaserum was anything like that, he could just imagine the pain that would be felt if it couldn't be thrown off. To suddenly come out of a soft haze and realise things… people you've been trying to protect who are now directly in danger or even dead because of you.

To go from that feeling of peace to the pain of those realizations…

"Ron, it's not that easy," Harry said, "I… don't really know how to describe it, but it's not that easy."

Looking at Harry, Ron asked, "Well? Do you want to use it or not then? It's up to you mate."

Harry looked back at the unmoving Bakura, and made a decision.

"Let's use the veritaserum." he sighed, "But whatever we ask him, unless it affects us or people we know directly, we won't repeat to anyone. And we won't ask about anything we don't think is important. Okay?"

Hermione nodded, "If you're sure."

They needed direct answers, now or never; even if it meant going to this extreme.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, sorry for the late update. I don't have much time to write these days, plus I just had a belated birthday party last weekend since I was sick over my real birthday.

I've pretty much got the plotline of the story sorted, so updating is all relative to the time I have to actually write it out now. Plus I've got to work out the details etc. and do some fact checking. In other words; I'm going to be rather slow for I-don't-know-how-long due to that all, as well as real life getting in the way. I should so be writing Biotechnology notes right now…

Now about this chapter; in the last HP book, the trio were contently engaging in illegal activities despite the denunciation of those very acts in earlier books. I get the whole "War Time is Different" thing, but you'd expect them to at least get called out on it a few times. Therefore, in this chapter; where they have thus far only contemplated a largely illegal activity, I tried to show some of the thought processes and circumstances that could lead to such a decision… Or whatever... I'm so sleepy...


	14. Chapter 14: IEAHU

Title: Shadow Balance

Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past. 

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world. 

Disclaimer: See profile.

* * *

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: IEAHU - INTERPRETER

The veritaserum was a small crystal vial. It contained only a few drops of the clear liquid.

Hermione carefully opened it while Ron tilted Bakura's head back, which lolled lifelessly into position. Harry was standing ready to _enervate_ the teen. Hermione dripped three drops into Bakura's mouth, and Harry shot the spell.

Bakura's eyes fluttered before opening, the blank expression on his face and his half-open eyes evidence of the potion working.

"Who are you?" Harry asked clearly, to check.

Tonelessly Bakura said, "Ryou Bakura, also known as Tomb Robber Bakura, Soul Stealer and The King of Thieves throughout the years."

"Why are you known by those names?" He asked out of curiosity.

"Because I am Ryou Bakura; named thus by my parents. I am known as The King of Thieves because I am; I can steal anything. I have yet to be truly caught for my crimes. I am known as a Tomb Robber because I am a Tomb Robber; I defiled the Necropolis of the kings of Kemet and shoved it in their faces as have my ancestors and my descendants.

Because I am the Soul Stealer; no one can cross me without tasting my vengeance."

They shivered at the blank statement.

"How can you have descendants? You're only nineteen!" Hermione demanded, flabbergasted.

"I am nineteen. I am also three thousand years older than that."

"How does that work? Is it to do with the spirit you've mentioned?" Harry asked.

"Yes. The part of me also known as Tomb Robber Bakura, Soul Stealer and The King of Thieves; that was the Spirit of the Millennium Ring. The half of me that dates back to Ancient Egypt and was trapped in the darkness of the Millennium Ring for three millennia until I was finally reincarnated as my own descendent. The part of me that can be called evil for what it's done… and the part of me which I often condemn."

It had been a confusing statement. They didn't know the relevance of almost any of what they'd heard. They couldn't waste time on it though; the serum would only work for so long.

"Bakura, what did you mean when you said there was soul magic on me?"

"It's there, most of the time it's dim but just now it was very noticeable. You have either made a Horcrux or you are one. You must be destroyed or the magic must be removed, otherwise you will affect the Shadows badly and destroy the Balance."

Harry felt frozen to the spot. Could it be true? Was his scar a Horcrux? Did he really have a part of Voldemort's soul in his body? He looked at his friends; they both looked at him with an almost scared expression.

"Harry…" Hermione trailed off.

Harry spun to face Bakura's blank face again, "How can the magic be removed?"

"The Shadows were once used for extracting the evil inside humans, which is easy enough with the Items. However it's more time consuming without them. Either way, a Shadow Game must be played.

The evil is placed into a stone tablet traditionally, where it would be sealed. However, any object can hold a soul. If the object is then destroyed, so is the evil."

"Can you remove it?" Harry asked quickly.

"Harry no! We can't trust him using magic around your _brain_!" Ron yelped.

"Yes, I can remove it." Bakura said impassively, "But not alone."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Harry pressed, ignoring Ron.

"It would take at least two Shadow Mages to remove the magic. The darkness given off by these Horcruxes is painful to Shadow users; it affects the Balance and seems to make us more unstable than usual. Two would be needed to make sure the other doesn't lose it."

Harry paused, "Is that why you've been acting so unbalanced?"

"Partially; it is also due to the fact that I am essentially an embodiment of what was at one point, two different people. Now, both personalities are fighting for control until they strike a balance."

"So, _what_ are you then?"

"A torn soul trying to repair itself after being used and ill-treated by evil after evil; including my own essence."

Ryou paused for a moment and blinked before speaking in a slightly emotional if dazed tone, "At this rate I probably won't survive long, I'm not even sure I want to. It's not like I haven't had a long life, three thousand years is nothing to sneeze at – even if most of it was spent in mourning, pain, possession or revenge. Then again, if the rest continues like that there really isn't much point. It's probably just a matter of time before yet another evil force seeks to control me, probably this British Dark Lord this time around.

I wanted to make sure the world would be safe for once, instead of being the one it needed saving from… I should have known I couldn't do it, I was never a hero. Yugi and his friends were heroes; I was just the convenient self-sacrifice for either good or evil, If not both…"

Ryou had stopped talking, his dazed eyes filled with tears and a hopeless look. He blinked and silent tears slid down his face. The boys looked at Hermione, a bit shell shocked at this statement.

"The serum must be starting to wear off; he's becoming more aware of things." She said to them.

"Do you think it's true then – that You-Know-Who would go after this guy if he knew about him?" Ron asked.

"It doesn't seem too unrealistic. Bakura is powerful, but he said he has been controlled before, making it likely it could happen again." Hermione said brow furrowed.

"But he's not unstoppable, I mean, we managed to stun him." Ron said uncertainly.

"True, but I'm not sure how much of that was just luck, I mean he wasn't exactly sane at the time."

"At what point _was_ he sane?" Ron rolled his eyes.

"Think about it this way; he knows too much for us to let You-Know-Who capture him for himself." Harry said.

"We'll keep him here then?" Ron asked.

"Do we have much of a choice? He may be insane, but we can't just hand him over to the Ministry, that would send him straight to Vol-You-Know-Who." Harry said, "We still need to get rid of the Horcrux in my scar too."

The three of them contemplated for a while before Ron asked Harry, "Should we ask him where to find more Shadow Mages then?"

"Pardon, ask me what about them?" A soft voice asked.

They turned their eyes back to Bakura, gripping their wands. Bakura was blinking in a confused way, white hair falling over his face. He noticed that he was tied up and gave a small gasp of surprise.

"Did that really happen?" he was blinking fast to stop tears, "Did I really try to hurt you guys?"

"Yeah, you did you _bloody_ _psychopath_!" Ron bellowed, losing all his self-control suddenly. He just couldn't stand it; how could this guy act like this after what he'd done? It was infuriating!

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ron yelled, "I can't believe any of my brothers can be connected to someone so bloody sick!"

Ron was over it, he hadn't meant to burst out and he'd been holding it back. However, Bakura acting like this; so… _innocent_, after trying to kill him and his best friends _twice_! Moments after he started yelling though, Harry grabbed him and yelled at him to calm down while Hermione kept a nervous eye on Bakura.

Surprisingly, Bakura didn't start crying or getting angry. He just sat there with a pained look on his face. He didn't struggle against his ropes; in fact he went limp, his head slumping slightly.

"I understand your rage. My connection to your family is sullying to you, as is my connection to m-my own father. You have the right to kill me for what I have attempted. I will not defend myself. It will also prevent me from hurting others. I'm obviously a burden here; it might be for the best."

Ron stopped dead in his tracks at those words. It was disturbing; what sort of person would willingly let someone kill them?

"Wh-what?" He faltered in his rage.

"I'll tell you where to find another Shadow Mage before hand, so that Harry can have that magic removed." He paused, "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that, I know Harry wouldn't be able to make a Horcrux, despite the taint on your forehead your soul is pure."

They didn't say anything, all of them were thinking about what Bakura had just offered to let them do. They couldn't, could they?

When they didn't speak, Bakura continued, "Most of the Shadow Mages are in Luxor, Egypt. That's were you'd find the Tomb Keeper Clan lead by Isis and Marik Ishtar. They're both working at the main Antiquities building there. In Japan you'll find Yugi Mutou and his grandfather. I wouldn't bother with Kaiba, he doesn't believe in magic, even if he does have it.-"

"Bakura, I can't kill you. That would be wrong. It's wrong." Ron said abruptly, interrupting the other boy.

"-If you send them a wizard owl they probably wouldn't be too surprised, your best bet would be Yugi or Marik, although Yugi's busy with university at the moment." Bakura said, ignoring Ron's protests.

Hermione had scrabbled for a quill and had written this information down before looking up at her friends.

"What do we do with him?" She asked, biting her lip.

"Let's put him in one of the rooms upstairs and have at least one of us guard him at all times." Harry said.

"How are we going to get him upstairs?" Ron asked incredulously, looking down the long hall sceptically.

"We can levitate him, idiot!" Hermione hissed, hitting him lightly at the back of his head.

After ten minutes difficulty, in which Bakura decided to stay quiet, they got him into an upstairs bedroom still tied to the kitchen chair.

Standing quietly around him for a moment, they looked at Bakura's soft face and weary eyes before Hermione spoke;

"We should write to one of these people, it might not be very safe, but we do need their help."

"How do we know the names aren't just friends who'll help him kill us? He wasn't completely under the serum when he gave the names to us." Ron muttered.

"We don't have much of a choice here, Ron." She sighed, "Not if Harry's a Horcrux."

Harry gulped and looked at his friends. He could see the fear in their eyes, and he didn't like it.

* * *

A/N: Okay; here's my list of reasons/excuses for the late update:

First off, it was my mother's birthday.

Secondly, I had family whom I haven't seen in over five years visiting/immigrating from South Africa. That included a ten year old cousin with ADD and a four year old (who I met for the first time! She's really tall though, she looks about six) with an obsession with 'Littlest Pet shops'. My aunt decided my brother and I should spend quality bonding time together with them (i.e. Dump the kids on us to escape and enjoy adult company etc.).

This resulted in me making sure to introduce them to the joys of Pokémon, The Legend of Zelda and (accidentally) Filler Bunny and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac… I made sure to inform my aunt of that occurrence though. XP

So then I basically put all my Pokémon films on to distract them, leading the ten year old to wanting to draw lots of Pokémon. Me; being unable to say no to a hyper-active ten year old wanting to sit down and quietly draw, ended up buggering up my wrist even further.

Then, the time spent with the two disease carrying juveniles (whom were both recovering from colds) ended up weakening my resistance to viruses due to exhaustion and so forth, resulting in me catching the cold, which I had no time to recover from due to the constant pressure to play, causing it to get worse, making me bedridden by the time they finally left. It also resulted in me getting an ear infection which affected my inner ear, making me feel constantly dizzy and motion sick.

Lastly; I really need to fill in paperwork for studying next year. I'll hopefully be taking Pre-health Science next year now, since I need that to get into Nursing or Medical Laboratory work later on.

Sorry for the loooong A/N.


	15. Chapter 15: SBI

Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past.

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world.

Disclaimer: See Profile.

.

.

* * *

.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: SBI – SENT FOR

.

_._

_._

_To Mr. Marik Ishtar,_

__

You don't know us, but we are currently with your friend Ryou Bakura. We need your help here in England, and we were wondering if you could are willing to pay your way, and have sent a plane ticket booked to bring you to London with this letter in the hopes of your accepting.

_We apologise for the strangeness of this request, but Bakura said you were one of the people more likely to help with our problem._

_We apologise for not explaining much more, but we'd rather not have this letter intercepted in some way with more information than necessary. _

_Send a letter back with Pig (the owl) telling us if you'll come._

_.  
Yours truly,  
_

_H.J.P, R.B.W and H.J.G_

_._

_._

_

* * *

_

.

.

Marik had arrived at London airport at about ten at night. He only had a small bag with him, containing everything he needed in case this was a trap. He'd gotten through customs with little problem; he could still use limited mind control now, even with the Rod now gone. Just like all the Shadow users, he'd retained abilities from his chosen Item. He was glad for this, since it made travelling much easier for one. Especially getting into England now; there had been reports of many strange deaths and possible terror related attacks in various parts of the country lately, enough to cause the news to travel at any rate.

He wouldn't have come here if it wasn't for one reason;

Bakura.

He'd disappeared completely off the map for the last few months. No one had heard from him and apparently his father had stopped by in Japan to visit him for Christmas to find him missing from his Domino apartment and not staying at the museum.

His father had contacted Yugi, who was the only friend the man could recall apparently, and had been surprised to hear his son was apparently in England. Yugi had panicked and called the Tomb Keepers as well as everyone else he knew to see if they'd heard anything from him.

They hadn't. At least, not until last week…

.

.

.

_Marik had climbed onto the roof of the Antiquity's building where his family worked, and had been watching the sky while soaking up the brilliant sun. He loved the sun; it was probably something to do with all the years he'd gone without it, living underground. It was nice out, and he closed his eyes and lay out flat, limbs spread out to make the most of the time before he had to head back inside to help his siblings with their, and technically his, work he'd been quite taken aback when a tiny owl flew into his face! Marik had never seen a living owl before, at least not that he could remember, but he knew for a fact that they were nocturnal, and he'd been even more surprised when it dropped something in his lap before flying around his head, hooting in a distressingly happy manner._

_Blinking at the owl blearily in the bright sun, it took him a few minutes to register the letter on his lap. Picking it up he was surprised to feel it was made of actual parchment before ripping it open and unfolding the letter._

_Reading the short message, his stomach jolted. _

_It mentioned Bakura!_

_Marik quickly jotted a reply back with a pen in his pocket, with a little difficulty considering pens didn't work too well on parchment. He shoved the ticket in his pocket and, after finding the owl to be too difficult to catch by hand; he used the Shadows to calm it down and control it to the point that it quietly flew down and landed on his arm, where he shoved the letter at it. The owl flew off immediately after he released his control, and Marik ran to his sister's office as quickly as he could, the plane ticket clutched in his hand._

_Isis had been surprised and relieved to find out he'd gotten news of Bakura, and immediately gave him the time off to check it out. She'd wanted Rishid to go with him for his safety, but Marik insisted he'd be fine._

_Besides; the Ishtar siblings were almost always needed around the place due to their extensive knowledge of Egyptology, and the loss of two of them would inconvenience things around the place a lot._

_Marik had also sent a message to Yugi in Japan, telling him the news before he left. Yugi almost left Japan immediately after he'd heard, but his exams were coming up and he couldn't reschedule them much to his distress._

_He had however, made Marik promise to contact him when he found Bakura, and said that if anything went wrong he would fly to England no matter what. Exams could always be re-sat after all, and friends would always come first in a pinch. Marik smiled at that, Yugi was a good person, but he hoped things wouldn't be bad enough to need to call the quintessence of the Pharaoh to the rescue._

_._

.

.

Now…

.

He was looking around the airport for someone when he realised he didn't know what these people looked like. Maybe they'd have Bakura with them, which would help…

"Excuse me, are you Marik Ishtar?" a timid voice suddenly asked from behind him.

Marik turned to face a girl about his age with long bushy brown hair.

"Yes I am, and you are?" he drawled.

"Hermione Granger. I'm one of the people who sent you the letter. Please, follow me." She motioned for him to follow.

"Not until you tell me where Bakura is." Marik said firmly standing his ground.

"That's where we're going. You're his friend right?"

Marik nodded.

"I hope you can help us, we don't know what to do with him." She looked very nervous and was biting her lip.

Marik's eyes narrowed. He didn't like the sound of that, Ra I hope Bakura hasn't lost it, he prayed.

"Take me to him." He said harshly.

The girl motioned for him to follow again and he did. When they reached a quiet corner she pulled out a silvery cloak.

"Cover yourself in this." She said as they both scrabbled under it, with Marik shooting her a strange look.

"We're going to number 12 Grimmauld Place." She whispered.

Marik blinked, wondering why she felt the need to say that under this cloak when suddenly the girl grabbed his arm. One moment of discomfort later they were at a doorstep which she hurried through, pulling the disorientated Marik behind her.

Marik could feel strange magic everywhere, it was almost suffocating.

"What is this place? How did you use magic?" He gasped suspiciously.

He'd been too loud in his surprise, and what ever reply Hermione was trying to give was suddenly drowned out by a loud screeching voice, "MUDBLOOD SCUM, DEFILING THIS, THE NOBLE HOUSE OF BLACK! Stains of dishonour, filthy half-breeds, blood traitors, children of filth!"(1)

Marik jumped in shock as a curtain hanging over the wall to the side of the entrance shot open to expose a painting of a red faced woman with an obvious deficiency in manners.

"What the hell?" He spluttered, before picking up the gist of what the woman was screaming. He didn't know what some of the words meant, he didn't know whether this was due to not being a native English speaker or some other reason, but the tone and frequency of the voice were enough.

He turned on the painting, eyes almost glowing in anger. He noticed the girl and some boy who'd run into the room when the screaming started were trying to shut the curtains, but having some difficulty.

"Shut it you old sow, or I'll silence you permanently." He said pointedly.

For some odd reason though, this didn't work, and the painting focused on him, screaming with renewed vigour.

"That's it! You didn't listen, now you'll realise why you should've" Marik barked out a laugh, tendrils of Shadow Magic materialising around the painting, moving towards Mrs Black's face. She screeched at the sight, before suddenly going very, very quiet.

"You will never speak another word of insult to anyone…" Marik said ominously a smirk gracing his lips. He knew he'd kind of cheated the small Shadow Game by not explaining the rules, but on the other hand; it was just a painting. It wasn't like he'd played a real Game with it anyway.

The black haired boy stared in amazement, "Wow… I mean; thanks!" he said.

"Was that Shadow Magic?" the girl, Hermione, asked.

Blinking, Marik turned to face the two spectators, "Umm… Yeah. It was, and now that I can hear myself without the nonsensical insults of that waste of canvas and paint," at this he pointed to Mrs Black, who was making soundless gasping expressions and clutching her throat in horror, "You still need to answer my questions; where the hell am I and who are you people?"

"We're wizards, and this is Grimmauld Place." the boy said, "I'm Harry, by the way. Harry Potter."

Marik turned to face the black haired boy leaning against the doorframe.

"Non-Shadow Magic users?" He mussed, "My sister told me about rumours, but I didn't think they were real. I thought most magic died out millennia ago when the seal was formed. I'm assuming Bakura's gotten himself involved somehow."

At the mention of Bakura, the boy looked slightly ashamed, dropping eye-contact and looking a tad strained.

"Bakura's upstairs, Ron's keeping an eye on him."

Marik could feel something being edged around, and he didn't like it.

"What did you do to him?" His voice was like ice.

"Nothing!" The boy said quickly, looking at the Egyptian boy nervously.

"Then why has no one heard from him in over six months? Even his father's noticed he's missing!"

"He's missing? We only brought him here two weeks ago. But please, we need your help with something –"

"Take me to Bakura." He cut the boy off and raised his hand to motion silence.

The boy paused then nodded and motioned Marik up the stairs, the girl following behind. On the second floor, Harry led him into a room with the red headed Ron standing in the doorway. Pushing past him, Marik caught his breath.

.

.

.

* * *

A/N: Yes, it's a bit of a cliff hanger. And don't expect an update anytime soon, I've been so busy lately that I've barely had any time to write, and I don't expect that to change any time soon. DX

In fact, the only reason most of this got written was because after my brother's 21st, the resulting slight inebriation caused me to abandon celebrations and come write with surprising ease. Of course, I had to spell check and correct things constantly as a result as well, so it evened out really.

Also, the story will hopefully start becoming more fun soon, or at least within a few chapters of Marik's joining the goup. The plot will probably start progressing again at about the same point.

(1) Partial quote from the books. Also, I hadn't included Mrs. Black yet and I thought this would be a good opportunity to give myself a bit of a reason not to have to bother with her too much in the future. Lazy, I know.

*Edited 11/03/2010


	16. Chapter 16: SBIHR

Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past.

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world.

.

* * *

.

.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: SBIHR - WATCH OVER

.

.

**Last time:**

.

"_Then why has no one heard from him in over six months? Even his father's noticed he's missing!"_

"_He's missing? We only brought him here two weeks ago. But please, we need your help with something –"_

"_Take me to Bakura." He cut the boy off.-_

_The boy paused then nodded and motioned Marik up the stairs, the girl following behind. On the second floor, Harry led him into a room with the red headed Ron standing in the doorway. Pushing past him, Marik gasped._

.

**Now:**

.

"Bakura!" Marik gasped, looking at the scrawny albino tied to a chair. His arms were rubbed raw where the ropes had pulled against his skin. He looked haggard.

"What the hell did they do to you?" He rushed forwards, ready to cut the ropes off when Bakura said;

"Don't!" He looked up at Marik, a sad smile on his face.

"What are you talking about Bakura? They can't treat you like this!" He shot repulsed look at the three in the doorway.

"No Marik! It's okay; I don't think it's a good idea for me to be untied yet."

Marik wasn't an idiot when it came to this sort of thing, not when it came to Shadow Magic. He crouched over Bakura and put his hands on his friend's shoulders.

"Bakura," he asked seriously, "What did you _do_?"

Bakura bit his lip, his eyes watering as he blinked tears back, "I – I killed three people and I tried to kill Harry."

Bakura dissolved into tears. He didn't sob, but the tears slid down his face in massive, uncontrollable rivulets.

Marik was silent for a moment. While Marik had caused the deaths of many indirectly during his time as the leader of the Ghouls, the only person he'd ever _really_ killed with his own hands had been his father, and that had been while he was under the control of his… split-personality, and he didn't remember that very well. He only knew what he'd been told by his brother and sister, quite recently really.

He knew Bakura though.

Both of him; and he'd known what would happen with the merge. He had hung out with Yugi another month after the others left for their various locations across the world, showing him around Egypt and taking him through the tombs that only Yugi and the tomb keepers were allowed to venture. He'd noticed Yugi becoming more regal during this time, but on the whole it didn't really matter. Near the end Yugi and the pharaoh had been almost identical in most aspects, so them merging wasn't a big deal.

Bakura on the other hand…

He'd never developed a bond with his spirit, If they did, they would have become more and more similar until they could ended up merging and you wouldn't notice. Like what happened with the pharaoh and his reincarnated soul half.

If you don't form a bond however, the differences would become more and more pronounced, until the only way the two halves can be merged is though force, as was what happened to Bakura in the end. When that's done the entire soul would get thrown out of whack. The soul doesn't know how to balance itself anymore, and it couldn't end well…

"Bakura, stop crying." Marik said quietly, "You know as well as anyone that those forced to carry the Shadows will live a cursed life. We're haunted forever by the ghosts of our past, you know as well as I do that the Shadows always step in to help the casters, they can't let us die that easily! They make sure of it, and eliminate threats for good if you don't do something first. We've all had moments where we lose control of ourselves due to the Shadows. And with our lives being so closely tied to it, we've all done things we regret; it's a volatile magic. We've all lost things due to the Shadows,"

Marik paused before asking his final question, "but despite all that Bakura, despite all the darkness and pain we've had to endure, do you remember what could always bring balance to the Shadow Mages?"

Bakura was looking up at him, silent tears still streaming down his face. With a small laugh that sounded more like a sigh, he nodded, eyes glistening.

"Friendship." Bakura whispered, and while the word was said softly, it seemed to fill the whole room.(1)

The three at the back of the room stirred a little at this, but said nothing.

"_Damn right_ Bakura!" Marik emphasised, "Friendship is what saved all the remaining casters; Yugi has Anzu and Jou to keep him stable and me and Isis have Rishid, although I'll admit Isis was always tougher and more in control than me from the beginning."

"And who did I have?" Bakura whispered sadly.

"You had _us_ Bakura." Marik said firmly, "Your father may be a weed at times and the rest of your family may be gone, but you had _us_. We were so worried about you when you left. You just left, after an extremely volatile magic ritual that had never been tried before. We thought you were going to be with your father, so that you'd at least have someone to lean on, but you just vanished! Everyone's been worried sick; your father's been contacting people all over England and Japan to see if he could find you!"

Bakura laughed lightly, "He would do that rather than just check at his house here."

Marik smiled, he was pulling Bakura out of it.

"Well he isn't exactly the smartest man around when it comes to those things."

"No, he isn't." Bakura paused, a small smile on his face, "But he actually cared? He found out I was gone and he cared?"

Bakura's eyes overflowed again, a small smile on his face, "I thought he hated me…"

Gripping his friends arm Marik shook his head, "Of course he doesn't, and you don't have a complete ass for a father like I did. Your father was just scared and probably not as understanding as he could have been, you know that; we Shadow Mages are always feared because our justice is blind and unforgiving, especially if we're left alone for too long. _You_ shouldn't have gone off alone; I don't know why you did it. Death, destruction and chaos always follow an unbalanced Shadow caster. Remember me; remember what I turned into when I no longer had Rishid to lean on?"

Bakura nodded, he could remember the duel the spirit had with Marik's dark side on the blimp, and he could remember ending up in the Shadow Realm yet again as a result.

"Why did you do it?" Marik asked out of curiosity, "Why did you go off alone?"

Bakura blinked and sighed, "I wanted to fix the past."

"Did you?"

Bakura started to nod, then shook his head, "I did what I could, but I think I just caused more things that need fixing in the world!"

"Life isn't an easily fixable thing Bakura." Marik sighed.

Bakura blinked and looked at Marik owlishly through red eyes, "Hey, when did you learn to be so articulate and understanding anyway Marik?" He asked uncharacteristically blunt.

Making a face Marik glanced over at the golden trio before switching to Japanese, "_First off, I have no idea what the word '_eloquent'_ means, Bakura; English is my third language after all, but the reason I can talk psychobabble is 'cause Isis sent me to a shrink for a year after Battle City, a shrink who I should add, made me listen to relaxation tapes!" _Marik made an over-reactant face and waved his hands a bit when he said that, as if it was a most torturous experience he'd ever had to endure, which would be saying something if he'd been serious with his dramatics.

Bakura laughed and replied back in Japanese, "_You make that sound like it's the worst thing in the world_."

Marik scowled, "_You tell me it isn't after you're told to relax in the presence of someone being paid to screw with your mind. I'm used to being the one getting into peoples heads; it's just weird being on the receiving end of that to any extent."_

"_Why did you go then?"_

"_Isis said she didn't want me reverting to… you know what, or something."_

Bakura looked a little surprised at this, "Why? Wasn't he sealed in the Shadows though?" He replied in English.

Noticing that Bakura was calming down in his curiosity, Marik decided to explain, despite his mild dislike of the topic, he made sure to keep speaking in Japanese though, he didn't want the others in the room to know this stuff just yet, he didn't know them or particularly trust them.

"_Well, it's more complicated than that considering he was just a part of my own mind to begin with, which means he can be triggered again if certain… things happen. My magic only made him more alive than he should have been if it was just a normal case of DID, but all the pharaoh did really was seal the magic that he was made of rather than the actual illness."_

Bakura looked at Marik with a bit of shock, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just did." Marik drawled back in English with a smirk.

Bakura snorted with laughter, and Marik grinned back. He didn't know what else to say, but he could tell Bakura was starting to stabilise with the presence of his friend. He pulled a knife out of his pocket and cut loose the ropes.

"What are you -" Ron started at the sight of the cut binds.

"I'm putting him in bed. He needs some proper sleep you dolt, otherwise he'll just get worse and I'll have to clean up the mess he makes when he loses it completely." The blond Egyptian snorted bluntly.

"But he can't do anything to us like this can he?" Hermione asked timidly.

Marik snorted with laughter at that, "Of course he can, Shadow Mages don't need their hands freed to use most of their magic, not to mention this is _Bakura_; this idiot could have gotten out of these binds in seconds if he wanted to. He was just being an idiot and trying to punish himself for things he couldn't control currently anyway."

Marik rolled his eyes as he scooped the emaciated pale figure up from the chair, carrying him much too easily to the large black bed in the corner of the room, where he dropped his friend and covered him with blankets. Bakura had already fallen asleep.

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Harry was wondering about what Marik had said to calm Bakura down. They had been talking pretty low for the most part, but he had heard some pretty interesting things.

Shadow mages had difficulty controlling their magic? And why had he mentioned so much about justice and tragedy? What _was_ Shadow magic anyway, the trio didn't really know did they?

What had struck him most however, was the mention of friendship. He looked at his own friends, and tried to imagine all this without them. How far would he have come if he didn't have their support? He couldn't help feeling like he would have died a long time ago, maybe even during that one Quidditch match back in first year, before they'd even gotten near the Philosophers Stone.

Shaking slightly, he realised that, even though none of them owed a Life Debt to the other; that was almost just a technicality! He would always protect his friends, and they'd proven time and time again that they would do the same for him. There was no need for Life Debts, not between friends like his at any rate.

"Is there somewhere we can talk where we won't wake up Bakura?" Marik asked coldly, walking over to the trio and startling Harry out of his thoughts.

Harry nodded, "Yeah, we can go to the kitchen. Should someone stay up here and keep an eye on him though?"

"No, I'll be able to tell if something's wrong from this proximity." Marik said with a slightly evil grin. He _had_ lived in Bakura's head for a while after all.

"Oh… Okay."

The four teens walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Sitting around the table, Harry looked at Marik. The guy looked strange to say the least; he was covered in gold jewellery and wearing a black shirt with a cropped, sleeveless leather motorcycle jacket over it. His blond hair stood out against his tan skin. He looked almost like an average punk except for one thing, his strange violet eyes.

"Now, I'm going to give you people the benefit of the doubt and let you explain your actions." Marik said his voice icy "So first off, who are you people and how did you find Bakura?"

After some looks between the friends, and some hushed whispers, Harry began to introduce themselves and tell the story, "I'm Harry Potter and these are my friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger." Harry started, "We first ran into Bakura when he'd just arrived in London. We only met him for about ten minutes before he vanished, but something about him seemed familiar. Ron said he recognised Bakura from when he went to Egypt with his family to visit a dig site where his brother worked when Ron was about thirteen. I later realised that I also recognised him; we'd gone to the same primary school, but he was a year higher than me so I didn't know him personally. I only remembered at all because there was a big scandal involving him which forced his family to move."

"Is that where you know Bakura from, when he was in Egypt back then?" Ron asked curiously, looking at the Egyptian boy.

Marik looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "I met Bakura for the first time in Japan two or so years ago, besides I would have been about the same age as Ron back then… So no, I would have still been living underground, forbidden to see even the light of day and kept completely locked off from the outside world." He said with a creepy grin. Marik didn't like being asked about himself much, so he'd discovered that blunt honesty made people shut up a lot faster than avoiding it. Plus, he always found himself somewhat amused by their reactions to the things he said.

The trio shivered. They remembered what Marik had told Bakura, about living a cursed life.

_Haunted by ghosts of the past…_

What horrors had these people, only a little older than they were, faced? While the trio knew they themselves had been though more than their fair share of horrors, but almost always they'd treated the situations like adventures, not the dangerous situations they really were. They hadn't learned that lesson until fifth year.

They couldn't understand what it would be like to be one of the Shadow mages. Things had always seemed so black and white before they'd shown up, there was good and evil. The idea of people being neither… it just hadn't come up much in their lives.

Marik spoke again; interrupting what he felt was a rather awkward silence after his earlier proclamation, "Please continue your story, Mr. Potter."

"Call me Harry," he said absently before continuing, "We later found out he'd stolen something from another thief, who'd stolen something from us which we needed to destroy. While scouting for more information, we found rumours of him having killed some government officials in the wizarding world."

Marik grew a sad look on his face and whispered, "We shouldn't have let him go off alone…" Quickly however, he looked up with a smile and asked, "Then what happened?"

"We later ran into him while we were visiting my parents' grave. Turns out his sister and mother is buried there too. That was about two weeks ago. After that we discovered the thing he'd stolen wasn't just our type of magic, but according to Bakura, a bastardization of Shadow magic, he destroyed it himself before turning on us."

"A bastardization of the Shadows?" Marik's voice became sharp, "How do you mean?"

"Umm… Bakura said something about using only dark soul magic?"

Marik's eyes widened in horror, "Who the _fuck_ would be foolish enough to do something like that? Even small changes in the Balance cause problems, using _pure darkness_ on the soul?" Marik shuddered, "That could destroy everything! You always need a mix of both magic's. Bakura's right; it needed to be destroyed."

"That's what we want to do as well. In fact, that's the main reason we need your help."

"Why? Do you have more of that evil magic, in which case why not let Bakura destroy it?" Marik questioned.

"Bakura said he couldn't destroy the magic by himself in this case."

"Why?"

"Because... It was sealed in my scar by the man who killed my parents." Harry had made sure to mention the magic wasn't his; he didn't want Marik going crazy on him too. He didn't know the guy, so he'd rather not risk it.

Marik was quiet. He studied Harry for a moment before saying, "I see. That does make it difficult, at least if you want to survive or suffer no permanent damage."

"I would prefer that, yes." Harry said politely.

"Okay, I'll look into it." Marik resigned.

The trio looked relieved.

Marik seemed to notice this and spoke again, "Don't think I'm doing it for you though. I'm doing it because if I don't, and that taint continues to exist, Bakura will be the least of your problems."

The trio shivered slightly at that assertion.

"But not tonight." Marik yawned, "I've just sat on a rather smelly plane for over six hour, and I'd quite like to bath, eat and sleep. If that's okay with you _wizards_?"

"Yeah, sure. The bathroom's up stairs and down the hall to the left. We can have Kreacher fix up a room and bring up some thing for you to eat if you'd like." Harry said, standing up.

"Thank you. But if you don't mind, I brought a sleeping bag. I'll just sleep on the floor in Bakura's room if that's okay. The food can just be sent there."

"That would be all right, I guess."

"Oh, and I hate to sound demanding," Marik snickered internally as he said that, "But I'm a vegetarian, so no meat products please."

"Oh, Okay. No problem." Harry said, looking a bit taken aback.

"Please excuse me." Marik got up and left the table.

They watched him leave the kitchen, his bag still with him. After a few minutes they heard a door slam and the sound of water running faintly in the distance.

Ron yawned, "I don't know about you guys, but sleep sounds like a really good idea."

They nodded, and wandered off to bed, Harry only pausing to call Kreacher and have some vegetarian cooking sent up to Ryou's room.

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* * *

Sleep does seem like a pretty good idea right about now, what with it being X-mas for me right now since an hour ago, making it currently 1 AM. This is probably it for the next while since I'm going to be partaking in various trips with people for the holidays.

Yeah, this is probably a much later update than I wanted, but I got distracted by my new Deadpool comics and Discworld book I bought a few days ago while I was technically supposed to buy gifts for my family...

But anyway, Happy Holidays!

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(1) Yeah, I put in a friendship speech; but it wouldn't be Yu-Gi-Oh without it.


	17. Chapter 17: RES

Title: Shadow Balance

Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past. 

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world. 

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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: RES - AWAKENING

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That night Harry had a strange dream.

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_He was wandering through an ancient forest, after what seemed like forever, he finally realised it was the Forbidden Forest. He was moving towards his goal, what it was, he didn't know. It might have been a Horcrux, or it might have just been that he was trying to spot an end to the forest, trying to spot Hogwarts in the distance. He cut through thick underbrush with quick spells and he could feel himself moving closer and closer. He quickened his pace._

_Suddenly, with no warning he was trapped; Caught in a giant spider web. He jerked around expecting hundreds of giant spiders to rush towards him with intent to devour his struggling form, just like they'd attempted back in his second year. He managed to turn his neck, expecting to see Aragog's children bearing down on him, when the world tilted._

_He was still strung up, but the webs had turned into ropes and he was tied to a fallen tree. He suddenly realised he still had his wand in his hand, and desperately he tried to cut himself free with his magic, to no avail._

_He tried every spell in every way he could think of but nothing freed him; his magic was gone!_

_Suddenly; a nasal laugh echoed around him, and Marik; the guy he'd met just hour's before approached him, laughing as Harry struggled to free himself._

"_No magic can break those bonds you fool!" Marik said slouching against a tree. "You've been using magic for every little thing lately; to do the simplest tasks and those you don't you rely on someone else to do it for you. The magic you should actually be using is lying in forgotten books you could never be bothered to open! You've been doing things to make yourself feel better rather than what you need to do to actually finish this!"_

"_That's a lie!" Harry yelled at the blond Egyptian, "I've been helping Hermione and Ron for weeks now!"_

_He would have continued to yell, but suddenly, he heard voices all around him. And from every direction his friends came; Ron, Hermione and Ginny came rushing towards him from one direction, while the twins, Neville and Luna came from another._

_Harry cried out in joy at the sight of them and quickly yelled for them to free him. They responded by casting spell after spell at his bonds in an attempt to do so. Yet even together they had no effect._

_From the shadows behind Marik a new figure emerged; Ryou Bakura._

_The white haired boy placed an arm on Marik's shoulder and asked, "Shouldn't that be working?" He was pointing at Harry's friends attempts to rescue him, "Friends are the only true hope in a quest like this aren't they? The burden, shared equally between them should have saved them all by now."_

"_That's would be true," Marik said, still staring at Harry; a pitying look on his face, "If they weren't caught in the exact same trap as him."_

_Harry gasped as his friends were trussed up and silenced as if they'd never been free to begin with. Within moments they'd faded away into nothing. He stared at the two Shadow Mages, wanting to yell that this was some how their fault, only to find them fading away into the forest as well._

_Falling back against the tree Harry suddenly found himself with no plan, and no back up to come save him. He was truly alone in the world, he would never be free._

_Lying against the fallen tree he gave up. In the back of his mind he screamed at himself, Voldemort was still out there; he couldn't give up! Not yet, not like this!_

_He could feel tears falling down his face as despair set in._

_Slowly, just as the dream started to lose focus, it changed. And Harry could feel his bonds sliding off as he found himself sitting on a kitchen chair. He was at Privet Drive! Looking around in shock, he could see the sun streaming through a window and could hear the hum of the refrigerator. Sensing someone behind him, he spun around in his chair. He saw a bulky figure come into focus at the other side of the kitchen. Blinking in surprise, he saw Dudley walking towards him, a cup of tea clutched in his large hands. The cup of tea, which, with a nervous smile was held towards him. A cup of tea made by _hand_ as a truce and apology by a Muggle. A Muggle and a cousin._

_._

Harry woke up. He didn't move, but he stared at the ancient ceiling with his eyes wide open. He'd never had a dream like that before, at least not one that he could remember. Why had Dudley been in it? Harry pulled a face at the thought of his cousin. Had Dudley really thought a token gesture of tea would be enough to wipe away years of abuse at his chunky hands?

He realised that in his dream, for at least a few moments he'd actually forgiven the youngest of his Muggle family. He blinked and shook his head.

With a Sigh, he realised he couldn't get back to sleep and slowly he pulled himself up and started to get dressed for a new day. He looked around the room as he did; he'd chosen to stay in Sirius's old room a few weeks into their stay at Gimmauld, in a vain attempt to understand the man, his godfather, better. He knew the man wasn't perfect, but he'd managed to stamp his personality onto the room when he was young in a way that made him both sad and happy.

Happy that he could be around so much of him, and sad that the man wasn't here himself to give his commentary on the dank old house, and to give advice to Harry and his friends in their slow hunt for Horcruxes.

Horcruxes. So far they hadn't really done much; Bakura had been the one to kill Nagini, and to destroy the locket. And now, soon, he and his friend Marik would be the ones to remove the one from his head. Harry felt slightly jealous at that, after years of being told he was the only one who could do it, and that he couldn't even tell people other than Ron or Hermione about the Horcruxes and ask for help...

He shook his head and pulled on his shirt. He should be grateful that if wouldn't just be up to him. He just hoped he hadn't made a mistake in trusting, if only slightly, the two Shadow Mages now in his house.

Well, they didn't kill me in my sleep. Even if they did show up in my dreams, he thought to himself as he pulled on his shoes, the least I can do is see if they truly can help me out, and trust them enough to know what they're doing.

As he walked to the door he realised something had happened last night that hadn't happened since this war began:

The dream had been just that, it hadn't been _real_; not some vision from by Voldemort. It'd just been a normal dream, a weird one, but what dreams weren't?

He blinked and leaned his forehead against the door with the door handle in his hand. He gave a small thoughtful smile before pulling himself up straight and opening the door onto the landing.

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* * *

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The next day Marik woke up early. He'd slept on the floor at the foot of Bakura's bed, until the cold woke him up. He'd slept in a pair of cargo pants, not having packed any real sleeping gear. Getting up, he grabbed his bag which he'd leaned against the bedpost during the night and pulled out his old lavender hoodie. Pulling it over his head he walked around the side of the bed to check on Bakura.

Bakura hadn't stirred all night. Looking at him now, after a night's rest, Marik thought he looked even worse than he had the day before. He hadn't noticed the scar down Bakura's face yesterday; it looked pretty old already, and was only faintly darker than the rest of his face, and slightly raised. He hadn't had it when he'd left Egypt though.

Marik would ask him about it when he was feeling better. The three teens couldn't have caused it though, not if they'd only had him here a few weeks.

No need making false accusations during an already tentative alliance.

Bakura had always been scrawny, but this was ridiculous; he looked like he hadn't eaten in days. Marik had a sneaking suspicion that was true.

He wondered for a moment how Bakura had gone to the toilet if he'd been tied to a chair the whole time. He broke into a grin at this and snorted into his hand before he made a mental note to ask the three teen wizards just that at some point if he remembered.

Bakura didn't look like he was going to wake up anytime soon, so Marik stretched and walked out the door. Out in the corridor he realised he couldn't remember how to get down to the kitchen. He'd been on auto drive last night, and now, after a reasonable nights sleep, he couldn't remember. Scratching his somewhat messy hair, he looked up and down the dark corridor.

What time was it anyway? Marik thought, this place didn't look like it had ever seen the light of day.

It was like a tomb.

He shivered; he knew he wouldn't be able to stay in this place for any length of time. Not without Rishid here to help him. Walking down the left side of the passage, he passed door after door, but found no stairway.

Grumbling, he turned back the way he came when he recognised nothing. Walking back, he passed a door just as it opened. Pausing, Marik looked to see who it was.

"M-Marik? What are you doing up already?" It was the black haired boy, Harry.

"Trying to find the stairway in this nightmare of a house." He grumbled.

The boy nodded back with a sympathetic look, "Yeah I know what you mean. I've stayed here many times, but I still find something new every time."

Marik rolled his eyes, "I should add that the emphasis was on the word _nightmare_."

Harry gave a sad look around him, at the house, "Yeah… things have gone pretty bad here. Look, I'll walk you to the kitchen shall I? I was going there myself."

Marik nodded, "Sure."

They started walking, Marik following Harry.

"So what happened here to make it such an awful place for you?" Marik asked curiously.

Harry spoke slowly, "I inherited this place from my godfather. He hated it here, and for a long time he couldn't even leave it. He… when he died, it was my fault."

Marik didn't know what to say to that. He couldn't judge if it was Harry's fault or not, he didn't know the situation, and he wasn't sure if he should pry into the life of someone he'd just met in that way. Marik didn't like hollow condolences, so he couldn't apologize for the death of a man he'd never met.

They walked in awkward silence for a while before Marik finally spoke, having come up with something to say.

"Everybody makes mistakes in their lives. Some bigger than others, all you can do is make sure you don't fall into the same situation over and over. To regret your actions allows you to atone for them, if not, hate and sorrow will consume you until not even those closest to you will recognise who you've become."

Pausing, thinking over his words, Marik continued, "its kinda cliché I guess, learning from your mistakes, I think maybe what's more important is actually _recognising_ your mistakes, and being able to tell what they really are in the first place so you can actually atone for them. As well as knowing what _isn't_ actually your fault to begin with."

Harry looked at the Egyptian teen, his eyes wide in surprise before he nodded. Marik was right, he didn't want Sirius to be gone he realised, but he was, he fell through that archway and vanished forever into who knows where. The least he could do was make sure Sirius didn't die in vain.

Harry had to learn Occlumency, not just to stop Voldemort from using their connection he realised, but now that he thought about it, Bakura had only gone unstable when his scar hurt. He had been following his friend's wishes about continuing with his Occlumency; at least, he'd made sure to let them see him reading the occasional Occlumency book.

The connection wasn't just hurting him, it was hurting others. He'd told his friends he would study it more after that one incident awhile back, but his heart hadn't really been in his attempts. When they destroyed the Horcrux in his scar he wouldn't have that connection anymore anyway, so what'd be the point?

He paused slightly as he realised that. He wouldn't be connected to Voldemort anymore! Would his scar still hurt? Would he still be able to talk to snakes? Another thought struck him; how much of his personality was really his in the first place? Shaking his head he realised it didn't matter, what mattered was stopping Voldemort from hurting anymore people. His problems would have to wait.

Besides, even if he wouldn't be connected to Voldemort for much longer, Occlumency was still an invaluable skill. With it he could protect his mind from others, that way no one would be able to use his knowledge against his friends if he was captured!

"Thanks." Harry said honestly after the revelation.

"No problem." Marik yawned, covering his mouth.

They finally reached the kitchen, where Kreacher was busily making breakfast for the guests of Grimmauld Place. The two sat down at the table, where the old elf quickly ran to fill their plates with bacon and eggs. Harry thanked the elf, who grinned and moved to Marik, who quickly raised his hand to stop the house elf.

"Oh, no thanks," The Egyptian said, his face wrinkled slightly; "Do you have any fruit instead?"

"Oh, yeah," Harry said, "I forgot you don't eat meat."

"Yeah." Marik said, before smiling at the elf that'd quickly brought him a platter of cut fruit and thanking him. Chewing on a slice of apple he spoke again, "So Harry, what's actually going on around here? Other than the stuff you told me about Bakura yesterday, I mean."

"What do you mean?"

"This entire wizard stuff," Marik said, waving his hand, "How does it work? My sister told me about rumours back in Egypt, but not much else."

"Well, it's hard to explain," Harry started, "The Wizarding world's been cut off from the Muggle – non-magical - world for centuries, I'm not sure how long exactly – you'll have to ask Hermione, I was never good at history, but I think it was about the time of the witch burnings. The whole magical community is now basically underground, living in small corners of the world. Sometimes though, wizards or witches are born to Muggle parents, and the opposite occurs in wizards. What ever way though, if you're born with magic there's this magical sensor that picks up on it and puts you down on the local magic schools list, so that Muggle-borns aren't ignored because of the separation of the two worlds. When kids are young their magic isn't very stable, so they often experience accidental magic. Once they get a wand it's cool though, since that's pretty much the only way to use magic. Some people can do wandless magic, but normally even they can only do real simple things."

"So wait," Marik interrupted, "If all magic users get recorded why weren't Bakura or Yugi sent to a magic school?"

Harry frowned, "I don't know; maybe Shadow magic doesn't get picked up on." Harry said, before asking "Why didn't you ask why you weren't sent?"

Marik smiled mirthlessly, "I wouldn't have been able to go even if I was invited, I was supposed to spend my life underground learning rituals and history so I could lead my Clan. My father would never have let me leave."

Harry shivered, and didn't know what to say to that.

"In any case, I must then wonder why my brother Rishid wasn't sent." Marik said looking genuinely confused.

"Does your brother have wizards magic?" Harry asked.

Marik paused before nodded, "I'm pretty sure of it. I always thought he had Shadow magic when I was young; he sometimes had these weird bursts of power, they saved both our lives a few times, but as he got older it just kind of faded. Around the same time me and my sister started being able to use the Shadows actually. He couldn't use the Shadows like my sister and I could, but I could tell he had power. My father didn't think he could though," Marik paused and bit his lip, "He almost died once because I thought he could handle the power of the Shadows."

Harry looked some what bothered at that, but said, "If your brother did have magic he should have gotten a letter. Maybe there was some reason he couldn't go?"

Marik was quiet. He _knew_ Rishid had magic, so why didn't he go to a magic school? There were only three possible reasons. Either father didn't let him, as he would have done with Marik, forcing Rishid to stay as Marik's servant, rather than letting him leave. Or, Rishid chose to stay to take care of him, as that was the sort of thing his adoptive brother would do. Either way it was his fault.

It could have, however also been that the Shadow Magic intensive area the Clan lived in had almost literally shadowed him from the wizard's magical detection, forcing Rishid and any other members of the Tomb keeper Clan who may have had a different kind of magic to live their lives untrained and subdued by the Shadows around them.

"Is there anyway he can still learn?" Marik asked out loud.

Harry shrugged, "I don't know, sorry. You should ask Hermione when she comes down."

Marik paused for a moment before talking again, "Carry on with your story."

Harry nodded, "Well anyway, in the wizarding world things are divided. Some of the pureblood wizards – people who have a magical lineage - believe that Muggle-born witches and wizards are lesser beings, recently they've even started accusing them of stealing their magic from 'real' wizards." Harry sneered at that as he said it, "The prejudice has always been there, but lately it's gotten worse because of the man who killed my parents; Vold-You-Know-Who."

Marik tilted his head, "No, I don't know who."

"It's what we refer to the evil psychopath hypocrite of a Dark Lord who currently has the whole of wizard Brittan under his pasty thumb thanks to the Death Eaters – his minions – infiltrating and controlling the government."

"Why? The term still sounds pretty stupid to me."

"There's a trace on his name. If it's said he can find us."

"Still, 'You-Know-Who'? That just sounds dumb."

Harry looked at Marik; he thought it was just weird to be so flippant about the idea of an evil murdering wizard and focus on the name instead. He also noticed that Marik hadn't really reacted to the mention of a trace on Voldemort's name either, not like Bakura had at any rate. His eye's had just given a small flicker of understanding before being quickly covered with mirth.

"What do you mean? It's just something to call him." Harry said.

"And does he _want_ the public to call him that?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Marik burst out laughing. He couldn't help it, it just sounded so dumb!

"What's so funny? How can you laugh at someone who's destroyed the lives of thousands?"

Marik sat straight up, and looked at him, still grinning slightly, "It's just, as a former underground crime lord who once controlled an army of brainwashed minions known as the Ghouls; I'm used to that sort of thing. I was just finding it interesting how different evil organisations work, and I am surprised at just how many people have tried to take over the world in the past few years."

"You're a crime lord?" Harry asked slowly. He didn't know how to process that.

"I was," Marik said cheerfully, "I disbanded it a few years back; things are kind of boring without it though."

Another thing moved to the front of Harry's mind, "Brainwashed minions? You mean you _Imperioused_ them?" He was shocked.

"Imperi-what?" Marik blinked, "No, I was just able to control their minds. Not that I had to for the most part, most joined me willingly." At Harry's horrified expression he quickly added, "It's not like I do that stuff anymore anyway."

"Controlling another persons mind is an unforgivable thing in the wizarding world, any use of it can result in life-time imprisonment." Harry said quietly.

Marik didn't seem to understand the severity of this though, "Seriously? That's pretty cool." He said, "That means I've committed crimes on all sides of the law." He sounded proud of himself.

Harry stared at him in horror, "How can you sound so proud of yourself? After what you said earlier?"

Marik sighed, suddenly looking more serious than he'd been, "Look Harry, you remember what I said earlier about admitting to your mistakes? Well I've made a lot, and I mean _a lot_ of mistakes in my life, the only way I can even live with myself now is by finding humour in my lesser crimes. It might sound pretty lame out loud, but it's the only way I can defend myself from something much worse."

"Defend you from what?" Harry asked, feeling rather uncomfortable in the blond teen's presence after he'd called mind control a 'lesser crime' in comparison to other things he'd apparently done.

Marik smiled, "Nothing you need to worry about for now. Please, you were telling me about 'Mr I'm-Too-Cool-For-A–Name'."

Harry smiled cautiously at that. He wasn't sure about Marik, the Egyptian teen confused him, and he couldn't help but wonder if all the Shadow Mages were this perplexing.

"Well, he was the one who killed my parents. He's the guy who made the Horcruxes and keeps trying to kill me and my friends."

Marik started to reply, when Ron and Hermione stumbled in, Hermione holding a massive book that she dropped on the table and started reading the moment she sat down. The only words she spoke were a mumbled 'thank you' to Kreacher as he slipped a plate of food in front of her.

Ron wasn't much better, but managed to say good morning to Harry and shoot a suspicious look at Marik before sitting down and wolfing down his food.

Harry blinked at the exhausted Hermione, "Hey, are you feeling alright?"

Looking up from her book she yawned, "I didn't get much sleep last night, Harry, that's all. On the way to bed I stopped by the houses library for some light reading before I slept, and I found this book." She motioned to the massive tome before her, "Nothing relevant to our mission though, just a book on the development and evolution of magic across Europe and Africa. It's quite fascinating!"

Marik looked up in vague interest, "Africa? I know quite a lot about the progression of magic, or at least my type of magic from that area. Did you know Egypt was the first society built on the backbone of magic?"

Hermione nodded, "Yes, I read about that in school. We didn't learn about the Shadow Magic aspect of it though, so I was rather hopeful that there might be more information on it in this book." With a disgruntled sigh she continued, "There wasn't, and while I must say the book was very interesting; I was rather disappointed in that. I haven't been able to find more than a few words on it any where!"

Nodding, Marik replied, "I'm not surprised, my clan has been in charge of keeping that information hidden for millennia."

Hermione harrumphed, making it clear in one sound exactly what she thought of knowledge being hidden from anyone. Ron and Harry recognised this immediately and couldn't help but snicker somewhat.

"Hermione," Marik said, turning to face her, "Harry was just telling me that you might have some information on what to do about getting later life training for an untrained wizard."

Looking up from her book, she asked, "Who for? You?"

Shaking his head he replied, "No, my older brother, he never got a magical education in the Wizarding world, and I think he deserves to know his potential."

Looking thoughtful for a moment she then said, "I'm sure that sort of thing could be organised, I wouldn't mind doing that sort of work myself before I start my career, to see if I might enjoy teaching." Pausing, she gave a sigh, "I'd volunteer myself right now if we weren't busy with this war at the moment," Looking up she said, "In fact, if we survive this war I'd be happy to help, just like you're going to help Harry."

Before anything else could be said though, Marik blinked and sat up straighter. He turned to Kreacher and said, "Can I get a plate of bacon and eggs with some toast?"

Surprised, Harry couldn't help but ask, "You just said you were a vegetarian didn't you?"

Marik had gotten out of his chair and grabbed a large tray of food and tea from the house elf as he moved towards the table.

"It's not for me. Bakura's just woken up."

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A/N: First off, sorry about not replying to everyone's reviews; time constraints and email glitches have plagued me.

Yeah, sorry about the late update, but at least it's long.

Thing is, with my attending full-time education this year, I have little time for writing, and thus my updates will probably be rather delayed from now on, by which I mean very delayed. I will, with all luck on my side, manage to finish the story this year (since it was one of my new year's resolutions to finish at least one full chaptered story; fanfic or original). That, plus the fact that I've got to write weekly campaigns for my D&D group as one of my duties as Dungeon Master, and the fact that Convention season is starting around here has really cut into my spare time.

Also, I should mention I'm editing this story; nothing major, it's just that I was looking over it and noticed a bunch of half missing sentences, formatting errors and some bad spelling errors. If you happen to be reading or rereading this, it'd make me very happy if people can point out any mistake you can find so I can fix it and improve the overall quality of this fic.

Also, the dream Harry has is pretty much exactly the same as a dream I had. I blame it on my wanting to right this story but not having the time, resulting in my subconscious doing it for me. =P


	18. Hiatus Sorry Guys

**I'm sorry to do this, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to go on a hiatus from writing for awhile. At least until the earth decides to stop moving massively every few months and I actually have time to do something that isn't study or cleaning up after earthquakes...**

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**UPDATE: Thank you for all your messages of support, they are much appreciated!**


	19. Chapter 18: MAHEKHRU

Title: Shadow Balance

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Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU

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Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.

Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past. 

Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world. 

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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: MAHEKHRU – VOICE OF REASON

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Marik strode up the stairway, the tray in his hands being carried with little care as he moved briskly, causing tea to slosh out the cup and pool around the plates as he continued to move up to the next floor up, where Bakura was awakening.

He tripped slightly as he reached the landing, catching himself with only a few select Arabic curses muttered as he straightened up and righted the tray with only a slight sliding of dishes. One piece of bacon now floating in the spilt tea was the sole casualty of that incident.

Slowing as he walked down the corridor, he tried to keep his bearings in the old house before reaching the door he was looking for, which he carefully opened using his foot rather than bothering to put the tray down on the floor to do so.

Entering the room quietly, he placed the tray on the bedside table and finally turned to face Bakura.

The pale boy was lying still, but obviously awake. He was staring at the ceiling, motionless.

Marik approached him with a quick, "Morning!"

Bakura made an acknowledging murmur before sighing and with a blink, turning to face Marik.

"You okay?" Marik asked vigilantly.

Bakura looked back up at the ceiling before replying in a heavy tone, "I've caused so much damage, and I've destroyed so many lives with my very existence. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself, and I know that I'll never be able to go back to being the person I always thought I was..."

He paused, eyes glazing over in thought.

"All I want is to disappear from the world after all this. My life has been one disaster after another and... It's taken its toll on me after all this time."

Marik paused, not really knowing how to reply, and waiting to hear what Ryou would say next.

"I'm not a hero. I've never been one, I've always been the victim or a villain and I don't know if that will ever really change."

He reached up to his face and traced the faint scar that trailed down his cheek with a pale finger.

"But I've realised something." Ryou said, "I can't just give up, not yet at any rate. There's too much left to be done, and as long as this taint exists in the Shadows I don't think I'll ever feel right, and at this rate it won't just affect me, but everyone who's a part of the Shadows in any way. I may not be a hero, but maybe, I don't know, maybe I can be something else."

He gave a hollow laugh and turned to face Marik.

"I don't know how, but even though everything's fallen apart and I barely know who I am anymore, I still feel lighter than I've felt in months. No, years even."

"Yeah, a good night's sleep will do that to you." Marik joked awkwardly as Bakura slowly pulled himself up slowly from the bed.

He winced slightly and once he could lean safely against the headrest, he rubbed his wrists, which were still red and rubbed raw from when he'd been tied up. Noticing, Marik quickly said, "I'll ask that Harry guy if they have anything for that."

"Oh, you don't ha-" Bakura started before Marik cut him off, "It's the least they can do after all this."

Bakura looked doubtful, but chose not to argue the point, instead looking over at the tray Marik had brought with him. He made a face at the tea-soaked bacon, before his stomach interrupted any objections and he carefully lifted the tray onto his lap and not bothering with a fork, grabbed some of the less damp bacon and bit down.

"Thanks for the breakfast Marik" Ryou said with a small smile, his eyes still staring hollowly in spite of his claims of feeling better.

Without another word, Ryou slowly ate his meal.

A few minutes later, Marik spoke up again, "You want to play a quick game while we're up here? Friendly, of course. No Shadow Magic."

Looking up from his meal, Ryou blinked before replying, "Oh! Yes actually, I feel like I haven't played in ages." He paused a moment, "Oh, I forgot, I think Harry and them took them off me while I was being a bit... off."

"What, they took your cards? Well, I'm going to have to go get them for you then." Marik said, moving to stand up.

Ryou nodded blankly, eyes half-lidded as he started to lie back on the pillows. Marik moved the tray back onto the bedside table before it could be knocked over.

"You still need sleep then?"

Ryou nodded lightly, his eyes closed.

"I'll check up on you later then." Marik said as he moved to the door, trey in hand, "And I'll bring your cards with me when I do."

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At Hogwarts, Two weeks ago:

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Snape strode up the stairway into the headmaster's office, his office, and let the door slam behind him. Robes billowing after him he continued to his desk, a sneer plastered on his face.

"Oh dear, what seems to be the problem now my old friend?" said a voice from the wall.

"You know perfectly well Albus," he sneered at the portrait, "You were right here when those dunderhead Gryffindor's broke in and tried to steal the sword."

"Oh yes, that. I was pretending to be asleep at the time. I don't see what the problem is Severus, we replaced the real sword with the replica months ago."

"Ah yes, your grand plan to keep my cover, pretending to be asleep when anyone other than I am around, brilliant as usual. I've heard rumours among the students and staff. They're all under the impression that I must have cast some curse on you to prevent you from awaking and relaying information to the Order."

Dumbledore smiled, "Well that's perfect then isn't it my friend? No need to sound so sarcastic, the plan is working in our favour."

Snape sighed, "That part perhaps, but too much has gone wrong of late. Those idiots breaking in and stealing the sword, fake or not, has caused much trouble, and has gone so far as to bring the situation to the Dark Lords attention.

The students have gone out of their way to aggravate the Carrows, and I'm no longer able to divert punishments to Minerva or that oaf Hagrid without suspicion. More and more students are disappearing too. I know some are hiding in the castle, living in the Room of Requirement, which they've gone and made inaccessible to me. But I haven't been able to keep track of which have simply run away to escape punishment, and which have indeed been spirited away by the Carrows in the middle of the night and taken to the Dark Lord to be used as pawns to keep their families in line."

Snape rested his head in his hands, leaning heavily on the desk; Dumbledore had assumed that by sealing his loyalty to the Dark Lord, Severus would have an easier time, needing only to play one role to the public. All it had done was cause him to gain opposition at every turn and lose him allies which he required in order for many of their plans to work smoothly.

He'd been stretching himself out more than ever as he tried to run a school where nearly all the students and staff loathed him, and attempted to make his life even more difficult, which ironically resulted in him being able to do less to thwart the Dark Lord himself.

His iron self control and skill at Occlumency was the only thing preventing him from cursing them all and rubbing the fact that they were sabotaging their own goals by impeding him in their faces.

The life of a spy was infuriating.

"We should focus on getting the sword to Harry." Dumbledore said, pulling Snape out of his brooding.

"And if I had the time and information to do so successfully it would have been long done by now." Snape snapped at him, "Since Nagini was killed the Dark Lord has been both easily displeased with his followers, and painfully attentive to Hogwarts. Apparently I'm not brainwashing the children well enough, and if I don't start getting things done the way he wants soon, he plans to replace me with Lestrange."

"Yes, I've been wondering about that. Nagini's death was unexpected, in no small part due to her status as Tom's Horcrux. I have thus far only been able to conclude that this event was due to Harry, which can only mean he's found another means of destroying them.

Tell me Severus, have you found any information surrounding Nagini's death?"

"No. All I'm aware of is that the Bagshot house, where Nagini was killed has been burned to the ground."

Dumbledore made a genuinely sad expression at the mention of Bathilda, "Dear Granny Bagshot. I do wonder what's become of her. But at any rate, the fire gives me some suspicion of how Harry may have been able to destroy Horcruxes without the sword. He may have learned how to cast fiendfyre."

"That idiot!" Snape raged, "Has he any idea how dangerous that is? At this rate he'll kill himself before the Dark Lord gets the chance."

"While I disagree with your tone, I must agree it is a dangerous and reckless thing for him to be doing, which makes it all the more pressing to make sure the sword reaches him soon."

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An update? What is this devilry?

But seriously, I've had this half completed on my laptop since before the massive earthquakes, and now, after sitting my Financial Accounting exam at uni (I've switched degrees now as well! Gosh!), I finally found enough motivation to finish this chapter... sort of. This chapter actually originally had a scene with Neville, Ginny and the rest of the DA, but that's probably going to end up as the start of next chapter (if I get it done...).

It's hard trying to start up a fic again after about two years, since while I'm still a massive Harry Potter and Yu-Gi-Oh fan, I'm more focused on my other fandom's at the moment (The A-Team, Sherlock, Supernatural, Monster and Doctor Who) so I've been a bit neglectful.

I've been making poorly made Grimmer Wolfgang AMV's (from the anime Monster) instead... If you want to see them, they're under this username on Youtube. Go and mock them.

I do however still plan on finishing this... even if it takes me ten years.


	20. CHAPTER 19: MEKY

CHAPTER NINETEEN: MEKY - ONE WHO PROTECTS

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Room of Requirement, one and a half weeks ago:

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Neville moved slowly through the dark corridor, making sure to stay out of the light as he carefully made his way to the kitchens. It was rather late at night, and the castle was silent, but for his muffled footsteps, which only he could hear thanks to a quick spell.

Since the Christmas holidays had started, almost all the Slytherin students had returned home, since many of them still had families to escape to, rather than being stuck with the Carrow's. Neville almost felt sorry for the extra attention the Slytherin's received from the sadistic teachers. He could see that regardless of their actual views, with that level of constant scrutiny the only cunning (Slytherin) thing to do was to go along with it.

He didn't mention this view to the others in the DA, because by this point the divide between the Houses was too great. He did feel his view was at least somewhat vindicated by how quickly the Slytherin's moved to get away, if only for a short time. It wasn't a brave thing to do, but he could see why they would.

There were students from the other houses that also left, mainly from the more neutral pureblood families, as well as Dark sympathisers whose families merited being left alone. After years of bullies, shyness and quietly watching life at Hogwarts pass around him, he knew that Slytherin didn't have a monopoly on bad people.

Neville wasn't lucky enough to have a home anymore. Several months ago he'd discovered his grandmother had gone missing after a Death Eater raid. He knew she wasn't dead though, the Death Eaters wouldn't have hesitated publicising the death of a known Light sympathiser to kill public morale. Al least, he hoped as much.

Moving around the next corner, he stopped behind a large statue, ducking out of sight quickly as he saw the shimmer of a ghost down the hall. Waiting silently until the ghost, the Grey Lady, had passed, he held his breath a few more minutes.

He was about to start moving again when a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder.

In one swift move he spun around, wand out in front of him quickly on the defensive. He stopped when he was who it was though. Quickly recasting Muffliato to include the new person, he dropped back down out of sight behind the statue.

"Ginny, what are you doing here?" he whispered, even with the spell in place, "You're supposed to be patrolling around the Carrow's rooms and the dungeons today."

In the time that the two had become the leaders on the Hogwarts resistance, they'd taken turns scouting out around the castle in order to find students who'd run away, but had nowhere to go, and to find students who were being held prisoner or tortured by the Death Eaters of Hogwarts.

In those cases, they would report back at the Room of Requirement and gather a team together before attempting a rescue.

Ginny looked grim, "I've already finished. I didn't find any trace of Luna down there".

Neville felt his heart sink. Luna, surprisingly one of the resistance's best strategists as a result of her unique way of thinking, had gone missing a few days ago while on patrol. They could only assume she'd been caught, and as such had immediately started checking the usual Carrow and Filtch holding areas.

It had been four days with still no luck.

"She definitely isn't anywhere in the castle," Ginny continued, "At this point we can only assume one thing."

"They've taken her out of Hogwarts." Neville finished.

She nodded, "It must be to keep the Quibbler in line. If she was just being punished for running away she'd still be here somewhere."

Neville leaned his head against the statue next to him. Luna was one of his best friends. He, Ginny and Luna had become the new Golden Trio to the students this year. He wanted to organise a rescue, but he had nothing to go on. He didn't know where she'd been taken, and he couldn't just abandon Hogwarts.

The students needed him and Ginny to be here to fight for them. As much as it killed him, there was nothing they could do.

He felt Ginny's hand on his shoulder again and he turned to look at her. From her face he could tell she'd come to the same conclusion. Her eyes looked only slightly weary and a rather blank, almost apathetic look was on her face. After years of knowing her though, he knew how much she cared right now. That expression only came on when she cared about something too much, but still had to deal with the stuff in front of her.

Few people knew it about her, but in her second year, after the trauma of being possessed by Voldemort in her first, she spent much of her time reading up how to prevent something like that ever happening again. She learned Occlumency in secret, not telling anyone out of fear of being pitied because of her reasons. She wasn't perfect at it, but she could use it when she had to.

Only in Neville's fifth year, after they'd been friends for a while, did she tell him and Luna about it.

"We've got to keep going." She said quietly.

Wiping a hand across his face he sighed, before nodding, "I've still got to get more supplies from the kitchen, you want to come with?"

Ginny nodded.

Together they continued in the direction Ginny had just come from, when they heard footsteps. They were out in the open, and Neville was just about to suggest making a break for it, when Ginny pulled out her wand and cast Alohomora on a large mirror in the hallway.

It sprang open, revealing a small hidden room, which the two quickly climbed into before pulling it shut after them. The mirror closed with an audible click that seemed to echo around them.

They both winced at the sound before listening very carefully. The mirror itself revealed itself to be two-way, and to their horror, the sound of the footsteps increased until they were revealed to belong to Amycus Carrow himself.

"I heard you, you filthy brat." The man muttered under his breath, standing at the far end of the hallway, "You couldn't have gone far."

He started to move towards them, studying the hall carefully, as if expecting a rogue student to just pop up in front of him.

After an agonisingly long time, Amycus reached the mirror, and looked right at it. To the two hidden inside it seemed like they were being looked right in the eye as the man stared at the mirror, a sadistic and vain look on his face.

"Well, well, well." He muttered, "What a large mirror. Almost suspiciously so, I may be inclined to think."

Neville and Ginny clutched their wands at the ready as the man touched the frame.

Pulling out his own wand, he pointed it towards the mirror.

"Amycus!" A voice said loudly from down the corridor.

He paused, and slowly lowered his wand, before turning towards the voice, "Ah, Severus! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Through the mirror, they saw Snape come into view.

"This just keeps getting better and better." Ginny mumbled sarcastically.

"I was just on my way to inform you that it's almost the time of the year for the students to sit their exams." Snape said calmly.

"What? What concern is that of mine?" Amycus scowled.

"I understand that you are new to... teaching," Snape said with a slightly mocking pause, "But it is required for teachers to submit their exam plans to the headmaster for review so they can be checked for suitability."

"The Dark Lord put me in charge of teaching the Dark Arts here, not you! I'll examine them how I please!" Amycus growled.

"Be that as it may, he put me in charge of the school itself, and while it might not be of concern to you, the brats in this place do require an education. It would hardly do for the first generation under the Dark Lord's Reign to be a group of illiterate near Squibs, unproven to be capable of casting even the most basic of spells." Snape drawled.

Amycus looked infuriated, before surprisingly calming slightly, "You may be right. I am new at teaching. That may explain why the students are doing so poorly in their studies of the Cruciatus Curse. They can barley summon enough power to even pinch the troublemakers we bring in for them. Perhaps I should start them working towards their examinations. Nothing like a little pressure to get them to put in an effort."

Amycus was obviously off in his own world now, and Neville shuddered slightly at the realisation that this man honestly thought his students just lacked motivation, that he honestly couldn't imagine that children didn't want to torture their friends and classmates. This man was sicker than he thought.

Snape however did not react to Amycus's words, "I trust you understand the importance of this task?" He said ambiguously.

"I believe I do." Amycus said.

"Good. I require all seven years' Dark Arts papers to be written up within two weeks at the latest."

"Two weeks? That's hardly enough time!"

"You'd best get on to it then." Snape said with a slight sneer.

"Fine! I'll start on that now then." He scowled. "But first..."

He turned back towards the mirror, and Neville and Ginny stiffened up again, wands at the ready.

"What do you think you're doing?" Snape sneered.

Amycus turned to Snape, "I have reason to believe a troublemaker may be hiding behind this mirror."

"Do you now?" Snape asked, "Leave it to me then, you go do your work."

"But-"

"If there is anyone hidden there I will be sure to drop them off with Filtch or your sister."

He didn't look happy, but with a mocking bow, Amycus turned around and swept away.

Snape stared at Amycus's back until he was out of sight, and then just stood there.

"What the hell is he doing?" Ginny muttered, "Why doesn't he just get it over with?"

Slowly, Snape turned towards the mirror. The two got into defensive positions, ready to fight their way through him when he opened the mirror.

Snape however, didn't approach the mirror or even draw his wand. He just stared right at the mirror, almost like he was staring right at them, before turning and walking away, muttering something about idiots caging themselves in dead ends.

As his footsteps echoed away before vanishing, Neville and Ginny looked at each other in shock.

"What just happened?" Ginny asked numbly.

"I have no idea." Neville replied.

"Neville?"

"Yeah?"

"I think from now on we get our supplies from Hogsmead. We've almost got the portal set up now."

"I agree." Neville said, "And Ginny?"

"Yeah?"

"Next time don't get us trapped in a dead-end."

"I'll do my best not to." She agreed.

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Grimmauld Place, three weeks later:

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Marik and Ryou were playing Duel Monsters. They were sitting cross-legged on either end of Ryou's bed, their cards spread out on over the duvet.

"Well I now have enough fiends in my graveyard to summon Dark Necrofear." Ryou smiled as he moved the cards out of his graveyard to be discarded, before placing Necrofear in attack mode. "I can also draw a zombie card from my deck."

"Should have expected that." Marik groaned, as Necrofear demolished Marik's Dream Clown, whose special ability he'd used in his previous turn to destroy Ryou's face down Goblin Zombie. He still had his Bistro Butcher (and another weak facedown monster that had thus far been ignored though), which he had used to destroy Ryou's Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams. The destruction of which had given him enough fiends in the grave to get them to this point.

"I'll sacrifice my Butcher to summon Millennium Golem in defence, place two cards facedown and end my turn." Marik said.

This put them at a stalemate for now. Ryou put another monster facedown in defence.

Drawing a card, Marik smirked at the sight of Man-Eater Bug, which he placed facedown.

Bakura put another monster facedown, and ended his turn without attacking. "You may be bluffing with that card, but I'm not going to risk it quite yet."

Marik made a face before drawing his next card. Summoned Skull, Ha! Now he didn't need to rely on the Bug.

"I sacrifice one of my facedown cards to summon Summoned Skull, which I use to attack Dark Necrofear." That also brought Ryou's life points down by 300, leaving him on 700, with Marik still on 1500.

"You've really forgotten what Necrofear does, haven't you" Ryou smiled, despite the blow to his life points.

"What?" Marik asked.

"I now use Necrofear's effect to take control of your Summoned Skull, and use it to attack your remaining facedown card."

That was Man-Eater Bug. Flipping it over, Marik used it to destroy his former monster rather than one of Ryou's facedown cards, since it was the larger threat.

Ryou just smiled at that, as if he's been expecting it.

Drawing another card he found himself looking down at Cyber Jar, which he quickly put facedown before ending his turn.

Ryou also drew a card, which he placed face down, leaving him with just one space left for monsters before ending his turn.

Marik drew again to get Vorse Raider. Where the hell were all his useful magic and trap cards? Choosing to hang on to the Raider for now, he ended his turn.

Looking right at him, Ryou gave a rather evil grin, before placing down Dark Hole. With that, all of their monsters were sent to the grave. Ryou then placed a monster in defence and ended his turn, still smiling.

After drawing, he placed his Raider in attack mode, and ended his turn without attacking. He was sure that was an effect monster, something Ryou used plenty of, and he didn't have the defences to risk it.

It was a surprise then when Ryou smirked, "I will now sacrifice my facedown Headless Knight to summon my Shadow Ghoul, which gains 100 life points for every monster in my graveyard, bringing it up to 2600."

He then destroyed Marik's Raider and brought his life points down to 900.

"Why you-" Marik started in frustration, when suddenly there was a knock on the door and Harry peered in.

"Oh, hello." Ryou said nervously.

Harry fidgeted slightly before asking, "Sorry to push this, but if Bakura's recovered enough now, shouldn't we start working out what's got to be done with the Horcrux in my scar?"

There was silence for a moment, in which Marik shot Ryou a quick look. Ryou sat thoughtfully for a moment before nodding, "I think so. The sooner we get this over with the better."

"Does that mean you forfeit the game?" Marik asked slyly.

Ryou turned back to Marik and replied with a grin, "It's not a forfeit if I know I was going to win."

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Authors Notes:

What can I say? I'm being productive during my Winter break. I managed to write all this up this evening, so it might not be as error-proof as I'd like, meaning corrections are welcome. But after the long wait, hopefully two updates in one week will make up for it.

I know the actual card game aspect of Yu-Gi-Oh can be dull to read for people who just like it for the characters and underlying plot, but as someone who does play the card game on occasion, writing this little duel excerpt was surprisingly fun.

For those with little interest in such things, don't worry. It isn't about to take over the story, since the Harry Potter characters don't play, meaning all Duel Monster games are essentially filler, and thus not likely to occur once the plot picks up again.

(I admit I just used my duelling strategy for Bakura, but it does work for me a lot of the time so I thought why not.)

**One final note is to do with the Shadow Game coming up in the next chapters. I'm still having trouble coming up with something unique and distinctive enough to satisfy what I want, which is most annoying since I actually do have a large chunk of the story planed out for after that, which I just can't get to because of this mental roadblock.**

**As such, any suggestions are still welcome.**


	21. Chapter 20: SMAE

_**Title: Shadow Balance**_

_****_.

_**Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU**_

_**Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber.**_

_**Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past.**_

_**Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world.**_

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CHAPTER TWENTY: SMAE - JUSTIFIER

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Marik and Ryou trailed after Harry as he led the way to the kitchen. There was a thick cloud of tension in the air as they walked, mainly between Harry and Ryou, who remained distant from each other as they walked even now.

Once in the kitchen, the three of them joined Ron and Hermione sitting around the table.

"So," Harry said awkwardly, "How is this going to work?"

The two Shadow Mages looked at each other, before Marik started to explain.

"Um. Well, basically we're going to have to force the Horcrux to the front, so to speak. So that we can access it without you getting in the way." He paused for a moment looking at the confused expressions of the trio, "I'm not explaining it right, Bakura?"

Bakura spoke up, "What he means is we have to force Harry's entire consciousness, his soul, separate from the Horcrux into his Soul Room."

"My what?" Harry asked.

"Soul Room. It's basically a mental space that sums up a person's existence in some ways. It's kind of an abstract concept unless you're aware of it." Marik responded waving his arm glibly.

Nodding, but with a slight tilt of his head at the way Marik chose to describe it, Bakura continued, "Yes, something like that. You'll know when you see it. But anyway, once you're in your Soul Room, it'll force any remaining consciousness to take control of your body and –"

"What?!" Came several voices at once.

"You're going to let You-Know-Who take over Harry's body?" Ron gasped.

"I don't like this, it sounds like a bad idea." Hermione murmured.

"It's the only way to separate the two without the almost certain possibility of causing permanent damage to Harry's mind." Marik shot back.

"Look, if we force the Horcrux into control, it means we can face it in a Shadow Game, and by winning we can seal the soul fragment into a new object, which we can then destroy." Bakura spoke up.

"I don't know," Harry said, "Unleashing You-Know-Who inside our base of operations seems like a bad idea."

"Harry's right, who knows what that would do to the Fidilius charm." Hermione spoke up.

"We won't be." Bakura spoke up quietly, "The plan is to first bring you into the Shadow Realm with us first so as to give us the advantage, and he wouldn't be able to leave there without winning the game. And we don't plan on that happening."

"What would happen if he did win?" Harry asked.

The two shifted uncomfortably, "Well," Marik spoke up, "As it stands we were going to use the possibility of him taking permanent control over your body to entice him into the game."

"No bloody way!" Ron spoke up, "No way are we risking Harry like that. What if you lose?"

"We won't. And even if we do, we have a back-up plan." Marik shot back.

"Yeah? What's that?"

The Shadow Mages were silent.

"You don't have a back-up plan, do you?" Harry asked.

"Not really," Marik admitted, looking abashed, "But we're pretty good at making things up as we go along. Sort of."

"Why do I not feel at ease to hear that?" Harry sighed.

"It's not as bad as it sounds, honest." Bakura said, wincing slightly.

"Yeah, right." Ron muttered.

Harry sighed and rubbed his scar in thought. This did not sound like a good idea at all. He was half convinced he should just stick to his Occlumency and hope for the best. But on the other hand, he doubted the Shadow Mages were going to let it slide from all they'd said about the balance.

"Okay, fine." Harry spoke out loud, "If that's what's got to happen."

"Harry!" Hermione and Ron looked horrified.

"Look, I don't see another way about dealing with this, so we might as well try this and hope for the best."

"Okay," Marik spoke up before Ron and Hermione could protest further, "If we go through with this you've got to know what to do on your end."

"My end?" Harry asked, confused.

Bakura nodded, "Ah, yes. Nothing major really, but it is very important."

"What is it?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Well, once you're in your Soul Room it's very likely there will be some kind of door or opening there as a result of the Horcrux. All you need to do is not go near it at all. And whatever you do don't touch it." Bakura explained slowly, "It might not end up mattering, but it's the only way we can be sure that we only seal his soul without damaging you in some way. So it's better not to risk it, given how tainting this magic is."

"Sounds simple enough." Harry nodded.

"Harry, you can't be serious about doing this!" Ron exclaimed, rising from his seat.

"Ron, think about it." Harry said, "It's got to be done eventually. And the longer we put it off the more time Volde-You-Know-Who will have inside my head, and who knows what he's going to do with the power."

"Why not just stick to your Occlumency?" Ron argued, "It's been working fine these last few weeks."

Harry sighed, "As much as my Occlumency has improved lately, it's still not a permanent solution, and it doesn't change the fact that I've got a bloody Dark Lord in my head."

Ron seemed to crumple slightly at that. He sat back down at the table and sighed into his hands.

"Look mate, I get that you have to do this," Ron spoke slowly, "But as your friend that doesn't make it any easier for me to see you put your life in the hands of two strangers, one of which we _know_ is unstable."

Bakura shrank a bit at this statement, but didn't disagree.

Hermione moved to put an arm around Ron, who looked tired without his righteous anger. She understood where he was coming from, and nodded solemnly as she clasped his tense hand and looked at Harry.

"We know you've got to do this, but it's hard Harry. Knowing we can't help." She spoke softly.

"We'll be right there with you though!" Ron said fiercely.

Marik shook his head, "That probably wouldn't be a good idea. The Shadow Realm can be incredibly harmful to most people, and the exposure would probably cause you to pass out almost immediately."

Ron seemed to wilt further at this statement. "What use am I as a friend if I can't even be there with you for this?" he murmured.

"Ron," Harry said, "I know you, and Hermione, will always be there when it really matters, and I know you'll be right here when I get back. You guys are my best friends, and I trust you. So trust me when I say I'll be okay."

Harry spoke with more bravado than he felt, but he did feel more intent on getting through this Shadow Game in one piece than ever. He didn't want to disappoint his friends after all.

"If you want, we can get started." Bakura spoke quietly, not wanting to disrupt the friends.

Pushing his glasses up, Harry nodded, "Let's move to the downstairs living room, there's more room to… do whatever it is you guys are going to do there."

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AN: Yes, I know. An update. Shocking yes? I wrote this up today since I had the time and inspiration (Which I gained by reading through all your reviews! So thank you to all your feedback!) Not much story happening, but some character development and such.

So the next chapter is going to be the writer's block causing Shadow Game that I still only have vague plans for. (Basically, I have everything but the game thought out). So no idea how long that will take.

But hey, once I'm past that I should start updating a bit more regularly since I have the next five to ten chapters pretty much thought out.


	22. Chapter 21: NEB IRT KHT

**_Title: Shadow Balance_**

**.**

**_Summery: Mangaverse, No Pairings, DH/Post-MW AU_**

**_Set after Millennium World. After the destruction of the Millennium Items, Yugi and Ryou no longer have the spirits, but it seems their souls have merged, balancing them between light and dark as individuals, giving Ryou some of the personality traits and skills from the Tomb Robber._**

**_Since the Pharaoh's name has been revealed, the shadow magic is no longer sealed. Ryou finds he is able to use the shadows without the ring, as do the former bearers and those with a link to the ancient past._**

**_Ryou decides to return to England for closure over Monster World incidents that had taken place there before he moved to Domino. While travelling around England, he runs into new problems in the form of the modern magical world._**

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CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: NEB IRT KHT – LORDS OF RITUAL

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The group walked into the dank and gloomy living room, a sober air of disquiet following the trio, who hung close together slightly separate from the other two.

"So, what now?" Harry spoke up, keeping his voice steady.

"Well, we've had some trouble coming up with an idea for the Shadow Game, as I've always tended towards using Duel Monsters." Marik started.

"And I've generally used RPGs of some sort, as well as the card game." Bakura added.

Nodding, Marik continued, "Since we doubt this dark lord will have much understanding of either, it would be difficult to entice him into a game using either of them. However we don't want to use a game that'll end up giving him the advantage over us. So we were wondering what games you might have around that we could try and use."

None of the trio spoke for a while, thinking of anything they might have seen around the house when Ron spoke.

"I have a chess set."

The Shadow Mages looked thoughtful.

"That could work." Bakura murmured, "I'm pretty good at chess."

Marik nodded, "Go grab the board, we'll get things ready here so long for when you get back."

Ron nodded in return, with a small frown and stirred to leave the room.

"I'll go with." Bakura spoke up suddenly, and moving to follow Ron.

Marik shot Bakura a strange look as he moved past him, but gave a small confirming nod as Bakura returned a look at him.

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The two made their way in silence up the stairway to Ron's room. Both looking tense at each other's presence. They reached the room and Ron started digging through the mess to find his chess set, Bakura watching uncertainly from the doorframe.

"You guys don't know what you're doing, do you?" Ron said in a resigned tone, facing away from Bakura "This is all a game of chance isn't it?"

Bakura fidgeted before speaking, "It really isn't as bad as it sounds. It's true neither Marik or I have ever done something quite like this before, but it's not hopeless. We do have a plan."

Ron looked up, "What? It didn't sound like it."

Bakura ran his fingers through his hair, "Well, maybe not a plan as such, but we do have some techniques to give us the advantage in a Shadow Game."

"Like what?" Ron asked.

"Well, for one thing, I don't have to explain _all _the rules of the Shadow Game to the Horcrux, and given its nature, the likelihood of it cheating or breaking the rules and forfeiting the game are quite possible. As long as I'm vague in explaining to him, while setting the rules of the Shadows very rigidly, it could trip up at any time." Bakura explained softly.

Ron scowled, "You're going to be playing chess, I doubt he'll bother cheating."

"You'd be surprised," Bakura said, "And besides, the Game I'm thinking of, well. Let's just say it won't just be a simple game of chess."

Bakura's face split open with a sinister grin as he spoke, filling Ron's heart with ice for an instant, before it was gone and Bakura just looked sheepish again.

Ron was quiet, he'd found the board and pieces which were now laying on his lap as he sat in thought.

"Why didn't you explain this downstairs?" Ron asked, "Maybe we wouldn't have been as resistant to the idea then?"

"Um, well." Bakura said, "To be honest, we're trying to keep the information from Harry."

"What! Why?" Ron glared, outraged, "Harry deserves to know this isn't as miserable as you guys made it out to be!"

"We didn't want to risk it." Bakura said.

"Risk what?" Ron growled.

Bakura sighed, "We don't know anything about this Horcrux. We don't know how aware it is or if it can pick up on our plans if we mention too much of them around Harry.

By making it seem more hopeless than it actually is we were hoping that if it does pick up on anything, it'll be something that makes it lower its guard or think it has an advantage over us."

Ron blinked.

"That actually seems like a good strategy." He said begrudgingly. "Although I can't say I like you messing with our heads like that."

"Sorry about that." Bakura said uncomfortably.

"Why tell me at all though?" Ron asked, "It's not like we get along with each other."

Bakura shifted uncomfortably, "I know. It's just, you're Harry's friend and I felt bad about putting that stress on you guys. With the way you reacted in the kitchen and all…"

He trailed off.

Ron was quiet for a moment, before standing, chess set in hand.

"We'd better get back to the others." He said.

Bakura nodded.

As the two walked back down the corridor in silence Ron spoke again.

"Why only tell me? Why not Hermione?"

Bakura tensed at the sudden sound before finally replying, "Didn't have the chance, I only got to tell you because you went to get the chess set and I took the chance. But you can feel free tell her once the rest of us are in the Shadow Realm, if it'll help her worry less as well."

Ron nodded, mulling over his thoughts.

As they entered the old living room they noticed the others had cleared most of the things to the sides of the room, with only a small table and two chairs remaining. Waiting for the chess board to be set up.

Harry was looking slightly green from nerves, but was otherwise holding together fine. Hermione was nervously picking at her jumper with a look of aimless determination, wanting to do something but unable to.

In silence, Ron set up the board before explaining to Bakura how to control the Wizarding chess pieces.

With that done, Marik motioned for Harry to take a seat before speaking to the remaining two.

"You guys will have to leave the room now, we're about to send it into the Shadows."

Ron nodded sombrely, before taking Hermione's hand and leaving the room. The two stopping only to hug Harry tightly as he made his way to the seat.

"See you on the other side mate." Ron said gruffly into Harry's shoulder.

"You'll be fine." Hermione said firmly, with a watery smile as she clutched his arm after releasing from the hug.

After they were gone, Marik nodded to Bakura, who started summoning the Shadows around them in silence. The purple mist oozing around him and growing darker and more enveloping, until the entire room was filled with the strange darkness.

Harry shivered. He felt weak. As if he was surrounded by dementors on all sides. It was like his third year all over again. He reached for his wand instinctually wanting to summon his Patronus when the thought hit him.

"Shouldn't you take my wand off me? If you're unleashing the Dark Lord it seems like a bad idea to let me hang on to it." He said, his voice sounded weak and weedy to his own ears, causing him to pull a face in response to the sound.

"Don't worry about it." Marik said as he approached the table, but not elaborating any further.

Harry shivered. It felt like things were watching him all around and just out of sight in the shifting shadows. The way the shadows themselves moved was almost organic, as if the very mist was alive.

"What now?" He croaked out.

"Now, I'm going to enter your mind." Marik said, his voice free of emotion. "I'm going to have to forcibly control it so as to push you into your Soul Room and to bring this Dark Lord out."

Harry shivered in trepidation but nodded, "Let's get this over with then."

"Don't struggle against me when I do this, it'll only make things more painful for you." Marik spoke calmly and clearly, the words sounding eerie and threatening as he moved forward and placed a hand on Harry's forehead.

Harry caught a glimpse of a golden eye shimmering in the darkness on Marik's own forehead, before he felt an icy vice-like grip somewhere deep inside of his mind. Tensing automatically, he felt a sudden surge of pain causing him to choke out a scream before everything went black.

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AN: Well, as you can see I've got *something* in mind at least.

Finally.

I decided to go simple, since I couldn't be as creative as I wanted to in the end. Don't know when the next chapter will be out.

Also, I've gone through my old notes and figured out I have (very) rough plans potentially up to chapter forty-four. So, good news?

I know the chapters have been shorter lately, but it allows me time to actually work on it for once, so it's not all bad.


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